GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – The Fonner Park season reaches its pinnacle Saturday when a field 10 older horses meet in the $75,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes going 1 1/16 miles.
Shadowbdancing, winner of this race in 2010 and fourth in last year’s edition for trainer Terrel Gore, ships here off a strong second in the Cryptoclearance Stakes at Hawthorne on April 7 in his seasonal debut. Gore brings in Israel Ocampo to ride the 3-1 morning line favorite.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Barbara Heads is off to a strong start at Hastings with three wins from her first nine starters. Last year Heads started 30 horses before she won her third race with Dream in the Dark on May 14. Heads credit racing at Turf Paradise this winter as one of the reasons for her quick start.
It was the first time Heads spent the winter in Phoenix and she thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Steve Henson and his son Robbie Henson were part of the Hastings contingent at Turf Paradise. Officially the horses ran under Robbie’s name and he won 10 races from 66 starters. They also shipped a few horses to Santa Anita where running under Steve’s name they had three thirds from nine starters.
“I am happy to be home,” said Steve Henson. “I missed my wife and grandkids. Arizona is nice place to winter but, honestly, I loved California more. California is where racing is at.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Lisa Lewis has raced at numerous tracks throughout the United States, campaigning in California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York during her career that began in 1991.
Now, the 42-year-old Lewis has set up shop at Woodbine with 25 horses for owner William Schettine, for whom she has been a private trainer for two years.
“William Schettine raced here before and kept wanting to come back,” Lewis said. “He has several Shakespeares, and they seemed to have a lot of luck here, on turf and synthetics.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Reigning Livia will shoot for her fourth win over the Tampa Bay Downs strip this season when she tops a field of six optional-claming sprinters in the 6 1/2-furlong headliner.
Ronnie Allen Jr will handle Reigning Livia as she makes her first start for Gerald Bennett after being claimed for $16,000 from Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. and trainer Jamie Ness from a second-place finish in her last outing. Reigning Livia is entered under the first-level allowance option of Saturday’s race.
PHOENIX – Turf Paradise puts the spotlight on the home-grown product Saturday, with five stakes for Arizona-breds, headed by the $50,000 Gene Fleming Breeders’ Derby. The 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds, race 7 on the nine-race card, drew a field of eight, headed by multiple stakes winner A Political Time.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – How do you make a horse trainer’s cell phone never stop ringing? Run off the TV screen and earn a 103 Beyer Speed Figure the first time you race. That’s what a 3-year-old colt named Bourbon Courage did in making his career debut in early February at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
“The phone was ringing off the hook,” said Kellyn Gorder, who trains Bourbon Courage for the partnership of Bourbon Lane Stable and Wayne Lynn.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Random Highs ran a huge race to win a $12,500 claiming sprint at Hastings last Sunday and she is certainly capable of handling the challenge of stepping up in class when she runs in a $17,500 claiming race for fillies and mares that will serve as Saturday’s feature.
Will she be able to come back with another strong performance in just six days? If she can, she’ll be tough to beat in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint, which drew eight horses and goes as race 6 on a seven-race card that begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.
