ELMONT, N.Y. – Fresh off a sweep of Belmont’s Grade 2 stakes for juveniles on Sunday, trainer Todd Pletcher now turns his attention to this Saturday’s pair of Grade 1 stakes for 2-year-olds, where again he will be expected to do quite well.
Pletcher won Sunday’s $200,000 Futurity with Overanalyze and $200,000 Matron with Kauai Katie.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There might not be a happier person than trainer Bob Baffert that the Breeders’ Cup will be at Santa Anita next month. This is the track at which Baffert has been the dominant figure for nearly two decades, and he served notice Saturday that he will be a formidable presence in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Nov. 2-3 by sweeping three Grade 1 stakes races, two with runners who could be favored in their respective BC races.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Justin Nixon is no stranger to a good horse.
During the days when Nixon trained for Frank Stronach, primarily in the northeastern United States, his charges included stakes winners High Blitz, Jungle Fighter, Media Play, Powerful Touch, Spanish Lullaby, and Royal Regalia, who also came up just three-quarters of a length shy of a Grade 1 victory when third in the 2004 Woodbine Mile.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Moonlit Beauty was expected to be at a disadvantage when moving from turf to Polytrack for her rematch with Reconnect here in Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile Classy ’n Smart Stakes for Ontario-sired fillies and mares. But Moonlit Beauty, who had held off Reconnect by a head when the two last met in the 1 1/16-mile Victoriana, dispelled such thoughts with a wire-to-wire 4 3/4-length tally under her regular rider Eurico Rosa da Silva in the $125,000 Classy ’n Smart.
The consistent 4-year-old Rum Ruckus looks like the one to beat in a second-level allowance race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature at Northlands Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as the eighth race.
Trained by Twylla Bensmiller, Rum Ruckus is coming off a two-length win in a first-level allowance race Sept. 22, and he has compiled a 2-4-1 record from 7 sprints at the meet. The only time he finished worse than third this year was when he stretched out to a mile for the first time in his career.
MIAMI – The polarization of Florida horsemen and track management at Calder widened last week with the announcement that trainers will be charged a daily fee of $10 per stall beginning the day after the current meeting closes on Nov. 30 and continuing through the opening of the 2013 meet next April.
The decision to charge stall rent was the second new fee imposed on local horsemen this year. In July, Calder implemented a $5 daily charge for the dormitory rooms used to house backstretch workers. Those rooms had been rent free prior to this summer.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Stronach Stable entry of Big Kick and Big Daddy Bill heads the only non-claiming race on Wednesday’s Woodbine card. The B-level maiden special will be run over 1 1/16 miles for a purse of $37,000, and a case can be made for most of the field.
Big Kick commenced his career in the spring at Pimlico, where he filled out the exacta second time out when stretching out to a 1 1/16 miles in maiden special company.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Flame N Flash, making her first start since April, won Sunday’s $150,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for Quarter Horse fillies and mares at Los Alamitos, a victory that guarantees her a berth in the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 15.
The Grade 1 Vessels Handicap is the only race for fillies and mares that offers an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions, richest race of the year for older Quarter Horses.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Slim Shadey has taken a liking to the right turf course in 2012.
For the second time this year, Slim Shadey won a graded stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf in Sunday’s $150,000 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita. A 4-year-old gelding, Slim Shadey will make his next start in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf here on Nov. 3.
Slim Shadey will be easy to find in the BC Turf. He is likely to be on the lead in the race over 1 1/2 miles on turf.
