CHESTER, W. Va. – Al Stall Jr. thought Departing might be the favorite, but oh well. The Mountaineer morning line lists Departing as no better than the 5-2 co-second choice with Betweenhereandcool for the 44th West Virginia Derby, separated by quite a chasm from the 7-5 program choice, Overanalyze.
Fox Rules, primarily a turf horse until he upset last year’s New York Derby, and Dan’s Gold, who has raced exclusively in sprints throughout his 22-race career, are intriguing candidates in a field of 11 New York-breds entered for Saturday’s $50,000, 1 1/16-mile Genesee Valley Handicap at Finger Lakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Smartyfly, who ended fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks and third in the 1 1/16-mile Bison City, will complete a perfect attendance record in the triple tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies when she goes postward in Sunday’s $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes.
The Wonder Where, a 1 1/4-mile turf race, attracted a field of eight headed by Woodbine Oaks 1-2 finishers Nipissing and Spring in the Air.
CHESTER, W.Va. – There’s gold in these here hills, if only you run fast enough to get it. The embarrassment of 3-year-old riches in the Todd Pletcher stable could be further highlighted Saturday in the mountains of West Virginia, where yet another Pletcher runner, Overanalyze, could earn a tidy bundle by capturing the signature race at Mountaineer Racetrack, the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby.
CHESTER, W.Va. – Horseplayers trying to figure out the setup of the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes on Saturday at Mountaineer are in for a difficult time since a majority of the older horses in the 1 1/16-mile race can be fairly classified as speed horses.
Even with Warrioroftheroses and Percussion already having been scratched, leaving a field of no more than six, the race still has a great deal of speed. Eighttofasttocatch, Whatthecatdrugin, Taptowne, and Ojos de Hielo all flaunt an abundance of “1s” on their past performances.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Alpha Bettor aims for his second straight win in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup at Woodbine on Saturday, when he will meet James Street and Ultimate Destiny in the mile and a sixteenth stakes. Fortunately for all of them, the best horse on the grounds, Delegation, has bypassed the $150,000 contest.
Alpha Bettor upset Delegation by a neck, with James Street finishing another head back in third, while landing his May 12 season opener in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – After taking the inaugural Mystic Lake Mile on July 13 with Mister Marti Gras, owner Robert Lothenbach declared, “We’ll be back again.”
Lothenbach will fulfill his promise with the graded-stakes-placed filly Eden Prairie. Named for the owner’s Minnesota home town, she’ll take on seven other 3-year old fillies in the $100,000 Northbound Pride Oaks Saturday, one of two supporting stakes on the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby card.
The Oaks will be contested at one mile over the turf course.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Owner Terry Hamilton, trainer Michael Stidham, and jockey Lori Keith will try for a repeat win in the Mystic Lake Derby on Saturday at Canterbury Park. The trio won last year’s inaugural running with Hammers Terror and will try to double up this year with 5-2 morning-line favorite Dorsett.
The Mystic Lake Derby is a one-mile turf race for 3-year olds and carries a purse of $200,000, up from $150,000 last year. The race will be the richest at Canterbury Park since the 1991 running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Minnesota Derby.
Due to a virus that recently hit Northlands Park, the first two races on Wednesday’s card there were canceled.
The races were Quarter Horse trials and officials at Evergreen Park, where the horses are stabled, said they would not allow horses coming back from Northlands onto their grounds until the virus had died down. Evergreen Park is located in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
In an attempt to keep the virus from spreading, the Alberta Quarter Horse Racing Association decided to run the trials at Evergreen Park.
CHICAGO - Applications for 2014 racing dates filed Wednesday by Illinois racetracks with the Illinois Racing Board suggest next year’s Chicago racing schedule will look much like this year’s, and what figures to be more hotly disputed than the actual race days at the board’s annual September dates awards hearing are winter days when there is no Chicago racing.
