Sunday’s $75,000 Bull Dog Handicap at the Big Fresno Fair ended up with only five entrants. Despite the small turnout, the 1 1/8-mile race for older runners brings together four stakes winners, including a pair of graded stakes winners.
Races with small fields often turn out to be tactically run, and Control Seeker could end up controlling a race that does not have much speed.
Here's my race-by-race rundown of Sunday's pick four at Woodbine on Oct. 14, 2012. I'm building my wager with TicketMaker, found exclusively on DRF.com. I'm betting in increments of $0.50, and my budget is $100.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Big Band Sound will cut back to six furlongs Sunday at Woodbine in the $500,000 Nearctic, one of three excellent supporting stakes on the Canadian International card. As part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, the winner of the Grade 1 Nearctic receives a fees-paid berth into the Grade 1 BC Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ETOBICOKE, Ontario − Joshua Tree fell short in his defense of the Canadian International last year, but he should have the edge in his return Sunday, when he heads a quality European contingent in the 75th running of the race at Woodbine.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – James Street was a game winner of the 1 1/16-mile allowance prep for the Durham Cup and will be looking to duplicate that success in the main event here Sunday.
The Grade 3, $150,000 Durham Cup, a 1 1/8-mile Polytrack race for 3-year-olds and upward, is being run on the Canadian International Day card for the first time and attracted a field of six.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Three weeks after winning the $50,000 Pomona Derby at Fairplex Park, Shadow Runner returns in an optional claimer over a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Sunday.
It may seem like a drop in class, especially since Shadow Runner is entered to be claimed for $80,000 in the one-mile turf race, but Sunday’s race for 3-year-olds is also worth $50,000 and may be an ideal spot for a 3-year-old who was an inexpensive purchase during the summer.
“We gave $27,500 for him,” trainer Mike Machowsky said. “It was a good purchase.”
FORT ERIE, Ontario – The horse population at Fort Erie continues to thin out in these final days of the 2012 season, which could be the last race meet at this 115-year-old track.
The 2013 season and future years were put in serious jeopardy for this track and others in Ontario last spring following the provincial government’s decision to cancel racetrack slots program partnership agreements. The lack of slots money threatens the viability of some racetracks, both Thoroughbred and Standardbred.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Helped considerably by the huge 36-1 payoff on Moonwalk in the Jessamine Stakes on Thursday, Keeneland's 50-cent pick five, which is offered daily on the last five races, was hit for a whopping $266,430.20 following a one-day carryover that sparked considerable interest in the bet. Only one winning ticket was sold.
The winning combination was 4-6-12-4-7, and the winning odds were 10-1, 9-1, 3-1, 36-1, and 7-1. Consolation tickets (4 of 5) paid $562.35.
After a carryover of $65,279 into the day, another $331,163 in fresh money was bet into the pick five.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - As if Dale Romans didn't have enough starters for the upcoming Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, he now has another in Moonwalk, who earned an expenses-paid berth into the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf after the filly pulled a 36-1 stunner Thursday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.
Always near the front with Corey Lanerie aboard, Moonwalk dug in late to prevail in a blanket finish in the Jessamine, a 1 1/16-mile turf race with a Win and You're In designation.
