Sage Valley could make no impact in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, but he will be widely expected to rebound Saturday at Laurel Park in the $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Dance Card won four consecutive races topped by the Grade 1 Gazelle in her 3-year-old season and appeared to be one of the more intriguing fillies and mares to watch in 2013. But ankle chips prevented Dance Card from making an impact in the distaff division this year.
On Saturday, her abbreviated 4-year-old campaign is set to launch in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park.
Although entries were taken Wednesday for a 13-race card Saturday at Charles Town that features 11 stakes, the fields for the $400,000 co-features remain in flux because of multiple horses cross-entering other six-figure events this weekend in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and New York.
The Researcher, for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs, drew a full field of 10, plus one also-eligible. The female companion to the Researcher, the seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks, attracted 10 3-year-old fillies, plus a pair of also-eligibles.
ELMONT, N.Y. – From what he has seen in the mornings, trainer Todd Pletcher believes Shanghai Bobby is ready to flash the form that made him last year’s champion 2-year-old male when he returns to the races in Friday’s $100,000 Aljamin Stakes at Belmont Park.
“I think the way he’s trained indicates to me he’s as good as he’s ever been or possibly even better but there’s no information like a race,” Pletcher said Wednesday at Belmont.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tevis McCauley has racked up 104 wins and $2.2 million in stable earnings since taking out a trainer’s license in August 2009. That means he is only about 3,250 wins and $250 million shy of what Todd Pletcher has amassed in his 17 years of training.
More Than Even will attempt to win her fourth consecutive race Friday night at Remington Park in Oklahoma City in the $50,000 Te Ata Stakes. The seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies is one of two stakes on the card. The $50,000 Tishomingo is led by Grade 2 Risen Star alumnus Agent.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – With the arrival of fall this weekend, the thoughts of many people with ties to Arkansas turn to football and the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. For trainer Al Cates and his large contingent of Arkansas horse owners, however, thoughts of wild pigs take on a completely different tack – the Razorback and Lady Razorback futurities.
POMONA, Calif. – The summer campaign by Curvy Cat turned out to be too ambitious.
Curvy Cat faced the circuit’s leading female sprinters Reneesgotzip and Gypsy Robin, and her the best finish in three Del Mar starts was a distant third in an allowance.
Friday at the Los Angeles County Fair, Curvy Cat gets relief. She drops into the $50,000 Bangles and Beads Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong stakes for fillies and mares that sets up a big closing weekend for the Jerry Hollendorfer stable.
MIAMI – Trainer Stanley Gold couldn’t wait to stretch Best Plan Yet around two turns in last Saturday’s Foolish Pleasure Stakes. And after watching the son of Hear No Evil register a one-length victory over longshot Union Cash for his first stakes victory, he’s even more eager to bring him back for a third try at division leader My Brown Eyed Guy in the 1 1/16-mile In Reality Stakes at Calder on Oct. 12.
Ready Racer easily handled Boomtown Brat when they met in the $50,000 Sun Sprint Championship on Sept. 7, but the shape of a $35,000 optional-claiming race that will serve as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park could swing the advantage to Boomtown Brat. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses, but it looks like a battle between Boomtown Brat and Ready Racer for the top spot.