ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $125,000 Sir Barton Stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and up gained some unexpected firepower when Fifty Proof, Canada’s reigning champion older male, was supplemented at a cost of $3,000.
But Fifty Proof will be making his first start in 16 months, and he could get serious arguments from any of several rivals, including Bobcaygeon and Courtville, who both are coming into the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton in top form.
Alsvid will be seeking his fifth stakes win of the year on Saturday, when he makes a rare start around two turns in the $150,000 Zia Park Derby. The 1 1/16-mile race jumpstarts the final week of the Zia Park meet in Hobbs, N.M.
One of the 13 horses that Mike Maker will start Saturday in the 14th annual Claiming Crown series at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., is a filly named Juanita in the Tiara.
All that Juanita has done is earn more than $500,000 and win the Grade 2 La Troienne at Churchill Downs in May.
[CLAIMING CROWN: Get PPs, watch Saturday's Gulfstream card live]
Ciao Bella Luna will try to cement her reputation as Northern California’s top 2-year-old filly when she meets five rivals in Saturday’s $50,000-added Golden Gate Debutante on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields. A six-furlong Tapeta race for 2-year-old fillies, the Debutante drew a field of six.
STICKNEY, Ill. – A horse euthanized Monday at Hawthorne Race Course has tested positive for equine herpesvirus, becoming the fourth animal there killed by the disease and prolonging a quarantine that prohibits Hawthorne-based horses from shipping to other racing venues.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Trainer Mike Maker has been one of the Claiming Crown’s biggest advocates over the years. So, too, have his principal owners, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey. On Saturday, the trio will team up to compete in all seven Claiming Crown races on Gulfstream Park’s opening-day program, including the afternoon’s main event, the $200,000 Jewel.
Saturday’s 10-race program will mark the earliest opening in Gulfstream history. The 2012-2013 meet will continue through April 5.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse entered maiden winners Gunderman and Sky Commander in Saturday’s $150,000 Display Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile test for 2-year-olds at Woodbine which was won by last year’s divisional champion, Maritimer.
Gunderman, a son of Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, won fourth time out in his initial venture around two turns Oct. 24.
“He split horses and showed a lot of guts,” Casse said. “He’s always trained better than he’s run. With his breeding, I think he’s going to get better.”
Flirting Song will try to show her upset in the Tri-State Futurity was not an aberration when she faces most of the opponents she beat three weeks ago in the second of two divisions of the West Virginia Futurity on Saturday night at Charles Town.
West Virginia-bred 2-year-old fillies will go seven furlongs in race 8. Two races earlier on the card, a wide-open field of West Virginia-bred 2-year-old colts and geldings will race seven furlongs in the first division. Both races are worth $50,000.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Power Broker, winner of the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes in October and fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 3, will not start again until 2013, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday.
A winner of 1 of 5 starts, all for owners Gary and Mary West, Power Broker is in need of a break to gain weight, the trainer said.
“He needs to fill out,” Baffert said. “He’s a very light horse.”
The decision not to start Power Broker for the rest of the year will keep the colt out of the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park on Dec. 15.
