BALTIMORE – For Patricia Cooksey, kicking down doors in the male-dominated world of riding was akin to the fight she faced back in 2001, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It was about as tough as battling 11 other male riders in a race,” she said. “The odds are always stacked against you. Sometimes, you just have to approach it like you do riding: Just pick up the reins, take a tight hold, and hold on.”
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The $50,000 Lady Slipper Stakes for Minnesota-bred fillies and mares is shaping up to be a rematch of last year’s Minnesota Distaff Sprint, with the top five finishers locking horns again in the opening night six-furlong dirt dash.
Leading the way is Minnesota Distaff Sprint champion Polar Plunge, who will be making her 2013 debut. Early in her career the Cam Casby homebred liked to be on the early lead, but trainer Gary Scherer has been able to get her to rate and she should sit behind a contested early pace in the Lady Slipper.
BALTIMORE – The Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special on Friday appears to be a tale of two horses. Last Gunfighter has been in the zone since last fall and seeks his sixth straight win. Richard’s Kid, meanwhile, is attempting to recapture some of his former glory as a multiple Grade 1 winner and a $2.3 million earner.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Friday evening’s opening of the Canterbury Park meet begins the first full year of a cooperative marketing agreement between the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the track. The impact of the agreement is being felt from the condition book to trackside.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Bob Tiller should be holding a strong hand in Friday’s Woodbine feature, when he runs Born to Be Queen and Tequilamockingbird in the six-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies.
Born to Be Queen was bet down to 4-5 when she debuted off some solid works in a five-furlong maiden special on opening day, April 20. She dropped back to an early trailing position before closing wide through the stretch to prevail by a neck, over a track that hindered speed.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – His image is not difficult to find in his hometown. There are the bigger-than-life statue, the stories-high wall mural, the encased jerseys with his signature, and so much more.
But Paul Hornung is not just a living legend in Louisville. As the 1956 Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame and a Pro Football Hall of Famer with the Green Bay Packers, he is a national treasure, a worldly man as familiar with the streets of New York or Baltimore as his birthplace in the hardscrabble Louisville neighborhood of Portland.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pat Parente, who has been training since 2004, came into the 2013 Woodbine meet without a stakes victory on his résumé. Conversely, trainer Danny Vella had 132 stakes wins under his belt in a career that began in 1985.
When Summer of Fun ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall, she was dismissed at 43-1, yet outran her odds, finishing third in a race that has proven to be quite deep. Flotilla, the winner, returned to win the French 1000 Guineas, and Sky Lantern, who was eighth, won the English 1000 Guineas.
Sensible Lady upset last year’s the The Very One Stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan/Pimlico Special undercard, and it was no small feat as she was a 3-year-old beating older opponents. Sensible Lady is back to defend her The Very One title Friday at Pimlico, and one thing seems sure: She will be a fraction of the 24-1 she was in this race last year.
The $100,000 The Very One, at five furlongs on the turf, proved a highly popular offering. It attracted 16 entries, including two also eligibles. The Very One goes as the 11th race on Friday’s 13-race program.
