Drawing a post position near the rail in a one-turn race might not meet with everyone’s approval, but trainer Mike Puype was very happy that Turbulent Descent was assigned post 3 as the solid favorite for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Friday.

“That’s what she got when she broke her maiden” in her career debut last fall, Pupye said. “I’ve got no problem with the 3-hole at all. She’s the kind of horse who wants to get right to the rail and get to running. We’re good.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Motor City and On Fire Baby both earned Beyer Speed Figures of 81 in their respective stakes victories Sunday on the Stars of Tomorrow opener at Churchill Downs, and both are prime candidates to return for the features on the second Stars program here Nov. 26.

Motor City, the only gelding in a field of seven, got a patented rail trip from jockey Calvin Borel in capturing the Grade 3, one-mile Iroquois and most likely will return for the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, said trainer Ian Wilkes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The imposing Jenna’s Wabbit, who looks more like a 3-year-old than a 2-year-old, seeks his second straight win in Ontario-sired stakes company on Wednesday at Woodbine in the seven-furlong Frost King.

Jenna’s Wabbit is trained by Ralph Biamonte, who sent out the top two finishers in last year’s $125,000 Frost King, Citius and Altius.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There’s only so much as one allowance on a 10-race Wednesday card at Churchill Downs, but what’s this? Jockeys such as John Velazquez, Rafael Bejarano, Rajiv Maragh, Jose Lezcano, and Paco Lopez will join an already deep cast of Churchill regulars in accepting mounts here Wednesday, a surefire sign that this is no ordinary week.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Atlantic Hurricane’s stock may have slipped slightly following her third-place finish in the seven-furlong Avowal here Oct. 1.

But Atlantic Hurricane roared back with a vengeance in last Sunday’s $151,500 Ontario Fashion, stalking the pace of the front-running Waccamaw in the six-furlong stakes for fillies and mares and then rallying for a hard-earned half-length score under regular rider Emile Ramsammy.

Belmont Park’s fall meet came to an abrupt end over the weekend, with the final 16 races of a scheduled 37-day session wiped out by an historic October nor’easter that pelted Long Island with heavy wet snow and wind, and generally wreaked havoc across a wide swath of the mid-Atlantic and New England.

Racing was halted after three races on Saturday as a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and ice blanketed the track, and Sunday’s nine-race program was canceled as well – the second full-card cancellation at Belmont this year, along with a June 9 card that was lost to excessive heat.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Havre de Grace, in her final work in preparation for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, was timed by Daily Racing Form going five furlongs in 1:01.79 on Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

Jockey Gabriel Saez was aboard for the work, which took place immediately after the mid-morning renovation break, but regular rider Ramon Dominguez will be aboard for the Classic.

“It was like her last work at Delaware before we went to New York,”
Saez said, referring to the Beldame Stakes. “She worked about the same.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky.-  After several days of deliberation on the part of trainer Nick Zito, Jackson Bend was entered Monday morning in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint rather than in the Dirt Mile, which was his first preference when pre-entered five days earlier.

Trainers Joel Marr and Todd Fincher accounted for six of the seven Thoroughbred stakes run Sunday at Zia Park as part of the $2 million New Mexico Cup card. Each horseman saddled three winners, with Marr taking the afternoon’s richest Thoroughbred stakes with Cross Chris Run in the $180,720 Rocky Gulch Classic and Fincher sending out Rose’s Desert to win the biggest offering for females, the $170,600 Peppers Pride.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On a normal racing day at Churchill Downs, few occurrences can make the stands shake more than when a horse trained by locally based Gary Hartlage wins at a price. And the shaking was fearsome Sunday, when On Fire Baby posted a 9-1 upset in the Grade 2, $173,400 Pocahontas Stakes, the highlight of the 11-race opening-day Stars of Tomorrow program at Churchill.