SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After splitting their four previous decisions, Centre Court and Stephanie’s Kitten will renew their rivalry one more time when they cross paths once again in Saturday’s $600,000 Diana at Saratoga. The turf fixture for fillies and mares is one of two Grade 1 races on the card, along with the Prioress.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Back at Saratoga, back at six furlongs, and drawn sweetly on the outside, Kauai Katie looks perfectly set up to earn her first Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s $300,000 Prioress Stakes.
In a noteworthy break from recent tradition, the Hawthorne Gold Cup will be run several weeks after the Breeders’ Cup instead of several weeks before, it was revealed Thursday at a meeting of the Illinois Racing Board at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago.
The racing board approved the fall stakes schedule for Hawthorne, where officials have moved their signature race to Nov. 30, four weeks after the Breeders’ Cup will be held at Santa Anita. The Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup had been run four weeks prior to the Breeders’ Cup in recent seasons.
DEL MAR, Calif. – To reach three consecutive stakes wins since late March, Doinghardtimeagain has proven to be unbeatable by leading throughout or stalking the pace. The filly is a danger from any angle.
“I think she can do a lot of things,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “Good horses can do that.”
On dirt, Dynamic Strike is a head shy of being a two-time stakes winner this season in Maryland. But he has never raced or worked out on turf, the surface that will be used for a pair of $75,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds on Saturday at Parx Racing.
Despite his unfamiliarity with grass, Dynamic Strike figures to be a strong contender when he faces statebreds for the first time in the Crowd Pleaser Handicap for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles.
ALTOONA, Iowa – Golden Ticket, whose steady improvement last summer culminated in a dead heat for the win with Alpha in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes, is on the march again, and Saturday’s $100,000 Prairie Meadows Handicap at 1 1/4 miles is his next tour stop.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – From his maiden win on New Year’s Day to his victory in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial in early April, Verrazano was the darling of the 3-year-old division in the first third of the year.
The bloom came off the rose when Verrazano finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby on a sloppy track. Now, as the second half of the season in the 3-year-old division gets into full swing this weekend, Verrazano seeks to play catch-up when he runs against Preakness winner Oxbow and five others in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Modern ran like a horse who needed a race when he finished fourth as the heavy favorite in an allowance race for 3-year-olds at Hastings on July 14. He could make amends in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds and up that headlines a seven-race card at Hastings on Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew seven horses.
Won to Watch and The Kat in the Hat each brings significant win streaks into Saturday night’s $441,790 Texas Quarter Horse Association Sale Futurity at Retama Park. The 350-yard race is one of two major stakes on the card. The Grade 3, $193,600 Retama Park Derby drew the Grade 1-winning Quarter Horse El Duero.
