In 21 starts, the Maryland-based gelding Speaking Scout has started at 13 tracks nationwide, winning four times.
Through his extensive travels, Speaking Scout’s lone start at Del Mar has been a career-defining performance – a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby last November.
Speaking Scout’s second start at Del Mar, in Friday’s Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles, may determine his 2024 season.
After wins in last year’s Federico Tesio on dirt and James W. Murphy on turf, Joe stamped himself as the best 3-year-old in the Mid-Atlantic region.
A subsequent long layoff followed by two off-the-board finishes on grass dulled Joe’s star, but he can redeem himself Friday in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial at Laurel Park.
The Bender Memorial, for 3-year-olds and upward at seven furlongs, is one of two $75,000 stakes for Maryland-bred or -sired performers on the program along with the Politely for fillies and mares at six furlongs.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The best race of the final weekend of the 2023 Gulfstream Park summer-fall meeting will be the battle for leading trainer with perennial champion Saffie Joseph Jr. facing a stern test from both Victor Barboza Jr. and Jose D’Angelo coming into the last two days of the session on Friday and Saturday. There is no racing scheduled here Sunday with the 2023-24 Championship session set to kick off on Dec. 1.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Drew’s Gold, the multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old sprinter, returned to the work tab Tuesday, breezing an easy three furlongs in 39.71 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was his first work since being purchased privately in October by Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Alnuami’s RRR Racing and turned over to trainer Chad Summers. The goal for Drew’s Gold is the Dubai Golden Shaheen next March 30 with a possible prep beforehand in the Mahab Al Shimaal on March 2, Summers said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Three Technique, last of eight in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and Senor Buscador, seventh of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, are among those expected for the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 2.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bold Journey won’t be confused with trainer Bill Mott’s champion sprinter Elite Power, but when he runs six furlongs on a fast track at Aqueduct, the 4-year-old New York-bred son of Hard Spun is tough to beat.
Under such circumstances, Bold Journey is 3 for 4 with a second, albeit in maiden or allowance company.
Friday, on what figures to be a dry Aqueduct main track, Bold Journey will seek his first stakes victory in the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap at six furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Anything can happen during the waning days of the marathon Woodbine meet, which goes until Dec. 17.
Conventional handicapping rules can be ignored. Some horses will run well on short rest as trainers look to squeeze an extra race out of them before they head to the farm for a winter break. Many horses will drop sharply while others will jump up in class looking to capitalize on their sharp form. Some longtime maidens might finally break through and trainers who haven’t won all year could get off the duck.
Miles Ahead has struggled to get in front. A nose victory in September 2022 is all that stands between the 6-year-old and a 10-race losing streak, but Miles Ahead figures to be favored Thursday at Fair Grounds in the $200,000 Thanksgiving Classic.
“He runs well every time, runs hard, but he hasn’t quite gotten the job done,” said Paul McGee, who trains Miles Ahead for the Jay Em Ess Stable.
A low point in Xigera’s racing career also was a turning point.
On Aug. 4 at Saratoga, Xigera got bogged down on a soft turf course and finished sixth, beaten nearly 20 lengths, in the Saratoga Oaks Invitational. The poor performance led her connections to try Xigera on dirt for the second time. What they unearthed was a filly even better on the main track than on grass, and Xigera comes into the Grade 3, $400,000 Falls City Stakes on Thursday at Churchill Downs on a two-race winning streak likely to reach three.
With an influx of new money and new horsemen and the same old reliable turf course, Tampa Bay Downs is ready to kick off its 92-day meet Wednesday.
Tampa was awarded $5.5 million for purses as part of a larger financial package approved for Florida’s racing program last May. Maiden purses jump from $27,000 to $32,000 while higher-level allowance races also are getting significant increases with even more money for Florida-breds.
