ELMONT, N.Y. –The scary part about how good Dreaming of Julia has been in her first two starts was what jockey John Velazquez said after she won the Meadow Star Stakes by 16 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park on Sept. 9.
“She just goes through the motions like nothing’s happening,” Velazquez said.
Saturday, Dreaming of Julia gets her sternest test to date when she faces six rivals in the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – If Commander wins the Grade 3, $100,000 Premiers as expected at Hastings on Monday, he will be heading to Santa Anita to run in the Grade 2, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon Nov. 3.
It is hard to say just how good Commander really is. He is going into the Premiers off five straight stakes wins, and in his last three races – which he won by a combined total of 24 lengths – he really hasn’t been asked to run.
ARCADIA, Calif.– The stretch run between Obviously and Mr. Commons in the Del Mar Mile was one of the highlights of the summer meeting. There is every chance they can produce an encore in Saturday’s $150,000 Arroyo Seco Mile on turf at Santa Anita.
The two could not have more diverse running styles.
When the 4-year-old gelding Obviously gets rolling on the lead, he is impossible to stop. Mr. Commons is a closer whose late rallies sometimes work and sometimes do not. In the Del Mar Mile, Mr. Commons finished a nose behind Obviously, who set a course record of 1:32.10.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Irish Politics and Visionary Ruler, two promising youngsters with similar profiles, top the field Saturday in the $60,000 New Jersey Juvenile as the season winds down at Monmouth Park.
This is the final racing weekend on the Jersey Shore as the meet concludes Sunday. And then we’re down to a precious few days in New Jersey.
The action shifts north next Friday for a brief return to the Meadowlands for eight all-turf cards through Nov. 3. The Meadowlands schedule will be Friday and Saturday afternoons with first post at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
[bc_video_id:264551:]LEXINGTON, Ky. – Like sister, like brother. As wide open as the Darley Alcibiades shaped up for the opening-day card Friday at Keeneland, so, too, has the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity come up a monumental head-scratcher for Saturday.
Just like the Alcibiades and its 2-year-old fillies, the Futurity was carded with a field of 14 2-year-old colts, along with two also-eligibles. The Futurity, which also is run at 1 1/16 miles on Polytrack, is a Win and You’re In race toward the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.
PHOENIX – There was a time last year when Page Springs looked as though she might be the best female juvenile to race on this circuit since, well, ever. Alas, Page Springs has fallen on hard times at 3, but she returns to the site of her best work looking to get back on track in Saturday’s $35,000 Princess of Palms.
Despite her accomplishments, she’s not the likely favorite in the six-furlong dirt event for fillies and mares, which drew a field of six. That honor probably goes to Lasso From El Paso.
Quarter Horses from Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, and all around Texas have descended on Lone Star Park near Dallas for Saturday night’s Grade 1, $75,000 Refrigerator Handicap. The race, to be run over 440 yards, carries an automatic berth into the Grade 1, $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15.
Madeira Park will take on her elders in the $50,000 Duchess of York at Northlands Park on Saturday. Despite being the only 3-year-old in the five-horse field of fillies and mares, she has been assigned high weight of 119 pounds for the 1 1/16-mile race.
Trainer Dave Forster isn’t concerned about the weight.
“That’s not a lot of weight so it doesn’t matter,” said Forster. “The main thing is she is doing well and she likes the track at Northlands.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Aruna will start from post 3 with Ramon Dominguez aboard in defending her title against 12 other fillies and mares in the Grade 1, $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes, which will be run Sunday for the 57th time at Keeneland.
[bc_video_id:264536:]Last week, female turf stayers had their moment in the spotlight, competing in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont and Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita, both at 1 1/4 miles. This Saturday, the female turf milers get their due, this time at Keeneland with the running of the Grade 1, $350,000 First Lady.
