Dougs Buddy will try to keep his unblemished record at Northlands Park intact when he runs in the $50,000 Western Canada Handicap Saturday. It will be his first start since he suffered his only defeat, which came in the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs last Nov. 19. If he runs back to the form he displayed in four starts at Northlands, he’ll be tough to handle in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, which drew five horses.
My Three Girls will be auditioning for next month’s $50,000 Matron at Evangeline Downs when she makes her two-turn debut in Saturday’s second race at Louisiana Downs. She is part of a 10-horse field for the allowance for fillies and mares, which will be run at about a mile on turf. Others set to start include Skipping Town, a stakes winner at Louisiana Downs, and Love Dare, who was second last out in the $50,000 Opelousas at Evangeline.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Impressive debut winner Allaboutcaroline will ship in and take on the boys Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Victoria Stakes, and she should be odds-on in the five-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds.
Allaboutcaroline romped in her only start April 13 at Keeneland, winning a 4 1/2-furlong maiden dash by nearly six lengths, in a rapid time of 50.50 seconds, for trainer Eric Reed. She was subsequently sold to Team Valor International, and her new trainer is Wesley Ward, who won the 2010 Victoria with eventual Canadian champion 2-year-old Madman Diaries.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Vinoterra will be hard to catch if she breaks alertly from her inside post in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-old fillies that will serve as Saturday’s feature at Hastings. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew eight horses, but if Vinoterra runs back to her impressive fourth-place performance in the $50,000 Ross McLeod, they aren’t going to beat her.
The $50,000 J. William Petro Memorial Handicap at Thistledown on Saturday should be an interesting race as a number of the Ohio-bred distaffers entered either have questions to answer regarding their recent form or will be making changes for this race. The 1 1/16-mile Petro has drawn a field of six.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Turallure, last year’s Woodbine Mile winner, had been under consideration for the June 24 King Edward Stakes but will not be making the trip to Woodbine.
“We’ll be keeping him here, and waiting for the Firecracker,” said trainer Charlie Lopresti when reached at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning.
The $150,000 Firecracker is a Grade 2, one-mile turf race which will be run at Churchill Downs on July 1.
Saturday night’s featured $40,000 Iowa Legacy Stallion Stakes, a six-furlong event for previously nominated 3-year-olds, provides an opportunity for Iowa-sired runners to chase a top prize early in their careers.
The group of eight is headed by Avalanche Pass, who hails from leading trainer Ray Tracy’s red-hot stable. After cruising by 6 1/2 lengths in her five-furlong debut April 27, Avalanche Pass dueled and faded in the Bob Bryant Stakes on May 19. She looks like the controlling speed under jockey Israel Ocampo.
ALBANY, Calif. – Only two winners – Go Papi Go and Native Treasure – will be part of Saturday’s field of nine 2-year-olds in the $50,000-added Lost in the Fog Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.
Native Treasure ran the best race of the year by a 2-year-old in Northern California when he scored a three-length victory over Saint Prado at 4 1/2 furlongs on June 1. He will have to go an extra half-furlong in the five-furlong Lost in the Fog.
On many Saturday afternoons at the Trackside offtrack-betting parlor on the Arlington Park property, one can find back in a corner of the main bar and dining room an elderly couple hunkered down with their handicapping paraphernalia. They’re on a first-name basis with the hostess, but other than that, the pair doesn’t stand out from whatever modest crowd is on hand to bet the races, and few of the other patrons would have any idea who they are.
The man’s name is Morton Fink. And Morton Fink owns two of the best horses – if not the two best horses – in the country right now.
