Stephanoatsee and Called to Serve, who each picked up small pieces of big purses in their latest outings, could play a far more prominent role in Saturday’s Barbaro Stakes for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park.
The $100,000 Barbaro, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the main track, is the richest of five stakes on an 11-race Owners Day card that begins at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
STICKNEY, Ill. – An outbreak of equine herpesvirus at Hawthorne Race Course that has left two horses dead remained confined to a single barn as of Thursday morning, a hopeful sign that the virus has not spread into the general population at the track.
With a pair of Grade 3 stakes wins on his résumé since July, Tune Me In clearly owns a class advantage in Saturday’s $75,000 First Responder Stakes at Parx Racing. The question is whether he will show up and be able to run effectively on short rest.
Since 2008, the East Coast-based stable of George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen has regularly sent a promising 2-year-old to the small southwestern Louisiana town of Vinton with the hopes of winning the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot.
The pattern continues Saturday night as the Halls and Breen have Bern Identity for the $200,000 Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs. The one-mile race rewards its winner with first preference into the Jackpot, and Breen said Bern Identity was shipped in with the hope he will advance to that 1 1/16-mile race on Nov. 17.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was going to enter three horses in Saturday’s $50,000-added Miss America at Golden Gate Fields. But Hollendorfer changed his mind at the last minute and entered a fourth, Halo Dolly, who will probably end up the favorite in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Two weeks before he attempts to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Ladies’ Classic for a second consecutive year, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will try to win his first Empire Classic.
Mott will send out the Juddmonte Farms-owned Lunar Victory in the $250,000 Empire Classic, the centerpiece event on Saturday’s 10-race New York Showcase Day program at Belmont Park. All 10 races are restricted to New York-breds, and there are seven stakes worth a total of $1,150,000.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After Saginaw won an overnight stakes against Lunar Victory going a mile last month, trainer David Jacobson might have been tempted to run him back Saturday in the $250,000 Empire Classic at 1 1/8 miles.
But Jacobson didn’t land atop the Belmont Park trainer standings by misplacing his horses. Instead, Jacobson opted to run Saginaw in the $150,000 Hudson Stakes at six furlongs, one of seven stakes for New York-breds on Saturday, New York Showcase Day.
Spectators at Saturday’s Far Hills Races in New Jersey will see the red “R” on his jockey’s attire and cheer for Slip Away. It will have nothing to do with his status as champion steeplechaser of 2010 or because he is part of the far-reaching stable of Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Some awfully nice horses have won the Raven Run Stakes in its brief history, most notably Sightseek (2002) and Informed Decision (2008). It may be too early to say whether one of the 14 3-year-old fillies in the Raven Run field Saturday can someday reach similar heights, but Keeneland fans ought to have plenty of fun trying to figure that out.
Down Town Allen has run much faster than Silver Heart in their two most recent races. When the big money has been on the line, however, Silver Heart has proven far more reliable than Down Town Allen.
That should make it difficult to choose between defending champion Silver Heart and sharp challenger Down Town Allen in the $250,000 Cavada, the premier event for fillies and mares on Saturday night’s West Virginia Breeders’ Classics program for West Virginia-breds at Charles Town. The card is topped by the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic for 3-year-olds and up.
