HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Manicero will get to do what he likes to do best, run seven furlongs, when he turns back in distance for Sunday’s $60,000 Sunshine State Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Sunshine State lured a field of nine Florida-breds that also includes Zero Rate Policy, defending champ It’s Never to Late, and Pashito the Che.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The upgrade to Grade 3 status of Sunday’s $150,000 Valedictory Stakes this year couldn’t have been more timely, since the 1 3/4-mile marathon has drawn an excellent field, which includes the Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner, Afleet Again.
The other protagonists in Woodbine’s closing-day feature are Eagle Poise and Eye of the Leopard, who battled through the stretch in the 13-furlong allowance prep for the Valedictory.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The longest day of a long meeting is scheduled to wind up at 6:51 p.m. Eastern here at Woodbine on Sunday with the running of the 13th race.
The card, which begins at 1 p.m., also will feature the longest race of the meeting, a $32,000 starter allowance at 1 7/8 miles, and the longest stakes race of the meeting, the 1 3/4-mile Valedictory.
And it has been a particularly long year for Mike Fox, the 7-year-old horse who won the 2007 Queen’s Plate when trained by Ian Black and would have raced this season for trainer Danny Vella.
Total all-sources handle during the 21-day Churchill Downs meet that ended on Sunday dipped 3.9 percent compared with all-sources handle for the same 21-day meet last year, according to figures supplied by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Bandbox, a three-time stakes winning New York-bred, returns to the races from a near nine-month layoff in Sunday’s $60,000 Vodka Stakes for New York-bred sprinters. A field of seven was entered for the race, including the coupled entry of Pretty Boy Freud and Uncle T Seven.
As a 2-year-old, Bandbox won the first three starts of his career, including the Charles Town Juvenile and the Sleepy Hollow. His worst race came in the Grade 2 Remsen, when he finished fourth behind To Honor and Serve, clipping heels entering the first turn.
Eblouissante, an unraced half-sister to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, has resumed training after missing two weeks because of a cough, trainer John Shirreffs said. He said the filly is a few months from her career debut.
“That all happened during the Breeders’ Cup,” Shirreffs said of Eblouissante’s brief illness.
A 2-year-old filly by Bernardini, Eblouissante has not worked since Oct. 26 at Hollywood Park, but is expected to resume workouts soon. In October, Eblouissante had three half-mile workouts.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Anthony Dutrow can be a man of few words when asked to talk about his horses. Unless he really likes one.
Handicappers can therefore draw their own conclusions from the fact Dutrow had a lot to say about Ancient Rome, who will be among the favorites in Saturday’s opening-day feature at Gulfstream Park, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes. A field of eight 2-year-olds will contest the Spectacular Bid, including Nashua winner Vexor and the undefeated Luke of York.
The seven horses in the $100,000 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante, a 1 1/16-mile race for Illinois-bred 2-year-olds Saturday at Hawthorne, have combined to win a total of five races. The only horse in the race with two wins, Class Break, has never started in a two-turn race. There are three maidens in the field, and one of them, Diva’s Diamond, is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
Have at it, handicappers – and good luck.
NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Mike Maker is a man of few words – and many Claiming Crown wins.
Maker, who is kind of the anti-Bob Baffert when it comes to verbosity, has scored seven Claiming Crown victories, the second-highest training total in the 12-year history of the event. No surprise: Maker will be in steady action Saturday, when the Claiming Crown comes to Fair Grounds for the first time, with at least one horse in four of the five Claiming Crown races, including three in the featured $150,000 Jewel.
