There is no shortage of speed in Sunday’s featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park, with at least five of the nine horses entered in the sprint eligible to contest the pace.
It’s a scenario that could benefit Loyal Louie, a stalker who breaks outside of all his rivals from post 9.
The field will race 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta surface. The feature is a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up and has a claiming option of $25,000.
Frank’s Rockette drew what might prove to be an ideal post Sunday for the $135,000 Pumpkin Pie at Aqueduct.
The millionaire racemare will start from post 4 in the field of five for the seven-furlong race for fillies and mares. It’s the first of three stakes on a card that also features 2-year-olds in the $150,000 Nashua and $150,000 Tempted.
Book’em Danno will put a perfect record on the line Sunday when he stretches out to a mile for the $150,000 Nashua at Aqueduct.
The one-turn race for 2-year-olds is one of three stakes on the card. The $150,000 Tempted is for 2-year-old fillies at a mile, and the $135,000 Pumpkin Pie drew sprint stalwart Frank’s Rockette.
The Nashua field of five includes Yo Yo Candy, winner of the Grade 3 Sanford in July at Saratoga, and Private Desire, a recent maiden special weight winner with a Beyer Speed Figure of 94.
The Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles at Flemington Racecourse in Australia on Tuesday local time will be a test of stamina for many of the 24 runners.
The recent French import Lastotchka is an exception. She will have her first start in Australia in the $5.45 million Melbourne Cup, but is a veteran of turf marathons.
Now trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr., Lastotchka won her final start in Europe in the Group 3 Prix Gladiateur at 1 15/16 miles at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sept. 3, her third stakes win since June 2022.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The summertime star of the California turf division will try to solidify her reputation Sunday in the final stakes race of the Santa Anita autumn meet.
Anisette faces 10 rivals in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss, a turf mile for 3-year-old fillies that is a class drop for the circuit’s top turf filly. After a summer sweep of the Grade 2 San Clemente and Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, Anisette met her match against older last out. She finished second in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Queen Goddess had a one-length lead in the stretch of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May before she faded to finish third as the odds-on favorite.
Not long after the loss, owners Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer Michael McCarthy decided the four-time stakes winner deserved a summer vacation.
Queen Goddess will have her first start in more than five months in Sunday’s Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf, a race that will help determine her future.
At times in his career, the Quarter Horse gelding Jeriko has come close to winning a seven-figure stakes at Los Alamitos.
Jeriko was fourth in the $1.08 million Golden State Million Futurity in October 2022 and second in the $1.88 million Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity last December.
After failing to qualify for the Rainbow and All American derbies at Ruidoso Downs over the summer, Jeriko has another chance for a massive prize in Sunday’s $935,650 Los Alamitos Super Derby at 400 yards.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It’s rare that a blacksmith gets credit for turning a stakes-caliber horse’s form around, but farrier John Staples was given a shout-out after Artie’s Storm’s upset score in the Grade 3 Durham Cup.
Artie’s Storm tries for a more lucrative stakes tally in Sunday’s Grade 2, $175,000 Autumn at Woodbine. As an Ontario-bred, the 5-year-old competes for an extra $35,000 in the 1 1/16-mile event.
Finger Lakes will host the final two stakes of its season this week – and while most of the track’s fare throughout the season highlights New York-breds, these two open-company stakes are, fittingly, named for statebred champions based at Finger Lakes who ventured beyond to compete in some of the world’s biggest events. Monday’s $40,000 Shesastonecoldfox Stakes, named after the champion New York-bred 2-year-old filly of 2001, is followed by Tuesday’s $40,000 Tin Cup Chalice Stakes, the namesake of which was the state’s outstanding 3-year-old male of 2008.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Let the games begin.
That’s probably the prevailing thought among most, if not all, horsemen as the countdown to this year’s Breeders’ Cup moved into its final stages when daylight dawned on a picture-perfect morning for training Thursday at Santa Anita.
