OPELOUSAS, La. – After squaring off against graded stakes company in two of her last three starts, Sittin At the Bar returns to a more friendly environment Friday night as she takes on seven Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies in the $50,000 Acadiana Stakes at Evangeline Downs.
The Brett Brinkman-trained Sittin At the Bar will likely go favored in the seven-furlong race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Yellow Boat makes her Woodbine debut in Friday’s headliner and will likely be a short price in the seven-furlong allowance for fillies and mares.
Yellow Boat, a Robert Evans homebred by Lemon Drop Kid, started twice two years ago at 2. She wound up second in her six-furlong opener at Saratoga and then graduated in a seven-furlong maiden special at Belmont Park.
Discreet Marq came out of her three-quarter-length victory in Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes in good order, said trainer Christophe Clement, who added he has not thought ahead to where the 3-year-old filly may run next.
“A mile and a sixteenth on turf, no problem,” Clement said. “Would she like to go further? I don’t know. She looked in complete control every step of the race, let’s see how she trains. Most races are going a mile and a sixteenth.”
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Field for the 2013 Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 8, at Belmont Park in New York. Click horse names to view handicapping profiles, past race records, and videos. MORE: Get Belmont PPs, watch video previews, read latest updates »
Purse: $1,000,000; 1 1/2 miles
Midnight Lucky, the 6 1/4-length winner of Monday’s Grade 1 Acorn, will head back to Southern California in the coming weeks, but her racing schedule will include at least one, if not two, Grade 1 races this summer at Saratoga.
While the Grade 1 Test on Aug. 24 is the main summer objective for Midnight Lucky, trainer Bob Baffert said the Prioress, at six furlongs on July 27, is also possible.
Steve Hobby and his newly-minted millionaire and Grade 1 winner Tiz Miz Sue were headed back to Churchill Downs Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after winning the Ogden Phipps Handicap by a half-length over Authenticity at Belmont Park.
Hobby said Tiz Miz Sue came out of the race in good shape and that a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 20 is under “serious consideration.”
“The timing’s good, she does run well over that racetrack, and it’s a lot of money,” Hobby said.
Kim Lloyd, part-owner of Sahara Sky, was headed to Broadway Tuesday night, one day after the thrilling nose victory by his horse over Cross Traffic in Monday’s Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.
Naturally, the show he was going to see was called “Lucky Guy.”
Lloyd, as well as his co-owner and Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer felt quite fortunate after Sahara Sky got his nose down on the wire in the final jump to beat the remarkably game Cross Traffic in the 120th Met Mile.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Last October, Comma to the Top won the minor Big Bear Handicap on a weekday at the Santa Anita autumn meeting. This fall, there is a much greater goal for the 5-year-old gelding.
After Comma to the Top won Monday’s $100,250 Los Angeles Handicap for the ninth stakes win of his career, trainer Peter Miller said the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in November is a long-term goal.
“You’ve got to dream,” he said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Schiaparelli, the winner of Sunday’s $73,710 Great Lady M Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park, will start around two turns for the first time in the $150,000 Royal Heroine Stakes over a mile on turf on July 6.
Schiaparelli, a 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare, won her first stakes in the Great Lady M, leading throughout to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths over Purim’s Dancer.
“She’s getting better,” trainer Mike Puype said. “I was hoping she wouldn’t have to be asked too much.”
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The top 3-year-olds at Betfair Hollywood Park run Sunday in the Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap, at least in theory.
But a pair of first-level allowance races Thursday might turn out as significant as the weekend stakes. Joelito faces Uno Dos Adios at a mile on turf in race 5; Curly Top meets Fighting Hussar and Little Jerry at 1 1/8 miles on the main track in race 7.
