OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Five Bars may not have run particularly fast when she won her debut, but she was quite impressive nonetheless.
At least she was impressive enough for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey to run her back in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going one mile at Aqueduct. McGaughey does know what a Frizette winner looks like, having trained five of them starting with Personal Ensign in 1986.
The $80,000 claim of Amber Cascade at Churchill Downs in May has already proven to be a shrewd move by Flying P Stable and trainer Mike Maker.
The purchase may lead to a start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, pending Saturday’s Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita.
The winner of the $200,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes, for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf, receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The speedy Bring Theband Home will prep for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in the $250,000 Nearctic on Saturday’s Canadian International undercard at Woodbine.
Normally a six-furlong main turf sprint, the Grade 2 Nearctic has been shortened to five furlongs on the inner turf for this year while the main course undergoes renovations, which should work out perfectly for the five-furlong expert Bring Theband Home.
ETOBIOKE, Ontario – Ready for Shirl, the leading candidate for champion female turf runner in Canada this year, takes her talents to Woodbine’s inner turf for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Dance Smartly at Woodbine.
Ready for Shirl has come into her own this year at age 4 for Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield. She rallied through traffic to finish a close second in the Grade 2 Nassau in late June and then won her first stakes July 20 in the Grade 2 Canadian over favored Gimme a Nother, who returned to capture the Grade 2 John C. Mabee at Del Mar.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It will be Godolphin vs. Wathnan when the favored Nations Pride clashes with stablemates Haunted Dream and Silawi in Saturday’s $750,000 Canadian International at Woodbine.
Godophin’s Nations Pride won the Grade 1 Canadian International the last time it was contested, in 2023, when the race was run over 1 1/4 miles on the main turf. With the main course currently undergoing renovations, the race in which the great Secretariat made his final career start will be run at 1 1/2 miles around three turns over the inner turf on Saturday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It’s unclear whether Hill Road is better on turf or dirt. What is clear is the opponents he meets in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Jockey Club Derby at Aqueduct are far less accomplished than what he’s been facing most of this year.
After competing against the likes of Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza on dirt and then facing a deep group of 3-year-olds in the Grade 3 Nashville Derby five weeks ago at Kentucky Downs, Hill Road is the only graded stakes winner in this field of seven 3-year-olds in the Jockey Club Derby at 1 3/8 miles.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have opened the season 4-0. Big Dom, named for Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro, looks to open his career 2-0 in the Grade 1, $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity on Saturday at Keeneland.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The field for the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Stakes for turf sprinters Saturday at Keeneland includes multimillionaire and multiple Grade 1 winner Khaadem, graded stakes winners Arrest Me Red and Governor Sam, and last year’s runner-up in this race, Charcoal.
But one entrant, Doncho, holds a distinction none other in this field can match – he’s a world record holder.
Since mid-summer and into early fall, Hastings observers have been relishing the prospect of an October showdown in the 1 1/8-mile Harbourview between the track’s top older filly, Avana, and its top 3-year-old filly, the undefeated Chi Chi Time.
Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait a while longer for such a matchup to transpire. Chi Chi Time, who was scratched from the British Columbia Oaks on Sept. 13 after rolling over in the starting gate, is dealing with a bum wheel.
She has more lengthy layoffs than stakes wins, yet Tamara will be the center of attention in Saturday’s Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.
The impeccably bred Tamara has not raced since November, when she finished second by a nose in an allowance race at Del Mar. The race was designed as the launch of a wintertime campaign that would re-establish Tamara among the nation’s leading older fillies and mares.
