ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Artic Fern has been a source of both joy and frustration for his trainer, Mike Keogh, showing an ability to compete with the best but having “off” days on a number of occasions.
On Saturday, Keogh will be hoping that the “A” version of Artic Fern shows up when he takes on six rivals in the six-furlong Jacques Cartier for 4-year-olds and up.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The new points system to determine eligibility for the Kentucky Oaks barely got out of the starting gate before being led back into its stall. No more than 11 3-year-old fillies are under consideration for the filly classic next Friday, well below the 14-horse limit.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Fitness is a major handicapping factor during the early portion of the Woodbine meet, and there appears to be readier horses in Saturday’s $150,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes than the highly accomplished Essence Hit Man.
Essence Hit Man, Canada’s champion sprinter in each of the past two years, is trying to win the six-furlong Jacques Cartier for the third consecutive year. He put together a fabulous 2012 campaign, during which he notched two Grade 3 stakes, the Vigil and Bold Venture.
Goldencents, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, breezed a slow six furlongs in 1:16.20 on a cloudy morning at Santa Anita on Thursday, never being asked for a significant effort by exercise rider Jonny Garcia.
An evenly matched field of 12, including a coupled entry, is slated to go 1 1/16 miles on turf in Saturday’s $50,000 John Henry Stakes at Evangeline Downs.
The old Evangeline Downs in nearby Carencro, La., was where John Henry earned his first stakes score as a 2-year-old in 1977.
American Sugar, a winner of three stakes at three different tracks during her 11-race career, heads a field of eight 3-year-old fillies in Saturday’s featured six-furlong, $60,000 Goldfinch Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
2013 Racing Dates
May 19 - September 23 (races being held at Beulah Park, Columbus)
Post Times
1:30 p.m. ET
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2013 Stakes Schedule
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Albertrani, who had a solid winter in south Florida, hopes to be active in many stakes at this fall's Belmont Park meet.
He'll start off Saturday with Big Screen in the Grade 3 Westchester. Big Screen has won 2 of 3 starts this year, including a second-level allowance at Aqueduct in which he earned a 110 Beyer Speed Figure.
Albertrani said Freedom Child, who was declared a non-starter in the Wood Memorial after an assistant starter was holding him when the gates opened, is being pointed to the Peter Pan on May 11.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The uncertainty of the Southern California racing schedule prompted trainer John Shirreffs to move the bulk of his stable to Belmont Park for the summer. Led by Zenyatta's half-sister Elbouissante, 20 horses arrived here on Monday. Ten more are expected in on May 5.
"I would have to say there didn't seem to be a direction that anybody knew about, and it's very difficult to make plans when you have really nice horses," said Shirreffs, who is in Barn 41, about the Southern California situation.
Last year, in an attempt to avoid the often-volatile weather in Kentucky in the spring, trainer Todd Pletcher decided to remain at Palm Meadows with his Kentucky Derby runners until the week of the race, and watched it rain, rain, rain in south Florida.So this year, after running his horses in preps in New York, Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, and Louisiana, Pletcher consolidated his Derby runners at Churchill Downs, where on Wednesday it rained, rained, rained.
