ARCADIA, Calif. – Since mid-summer, Mr. Commons has had a crash course in how to be a top-class turf miler in California.
A win in the restricted Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds at Del Mar in July was followed by a game second, by a nose, to the multiple stakes winner Caracortado in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 27.
After an absence of three years from Maryland’s racing calendar, the historic Laurel Futurity has been revived, although in a much different format than during its glory years.
Once a Grade 1 race when it was contested at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, the Laurel Futurity, which traces its roots all the way back to 1921, has been won by such famous racehorses as Count Fleet, Citation, Secretariat, and Spectacular Bid.
Without any solid evidence as proof, trainer Larry Jones must rely on his horseman’s instincts to determine whether his 2-year-old colt Mr. Bowling will relish the extra distance and two turns he will negotiate in Saturday’s $75,000 Dover Stakes at Delaware Park. Call it a hunch, but Jones said he believes Mr. Bowling will adapt well to the mile and 70 yards of the Dover.
A year ago, Roadhog and Out in the Reign finished one-two in the Alphabet Soup Handicap while racing over yielding turf. Both horses are back for Saturday’s Alphabet Soup at Parx Racing, but based on their most recent races over the same type of soft turf they relished last season, it would take a major form reversal for either one to contend this time.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse will run three daughters of Sky Mesa in Saturday’s $200,000 Mazarine Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine – Sky Dreamer, Spirited Miss and Sky High Lady, who are all homebreds owned by John Oxley.
Sky Dreamer graduated at first asking in a six-furlong maiden special on the grass before finishing a troubled seventh in the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes on the grass.
The undefeated Dougs Buddy will try and keep his record intact when he stretches out to a middle distance in the $50,000 Canadian Juvenile at Northlands Park Saturday. The one-mile feature for 2-year-olds drew eight horses and shares the spotlight with the $50,000 Freedom of City for 2-year-old fillies.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Bear It’s Time came wide from fifth to take the $125,000 Classy ‘n Smart Stakes on Wednesday night at Woodbine.
Moonlit Beauty set a slow early pace in the 1 1/16-mile route and turned back bids from Askeaton and Dance to the Moon. Bear It’s Time loomed into contention early in the stretch and went by Moonlit Beauty at the eighth pole before prevailing by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:44.28. She paid $5 to win.
MIAMI - Trainer David Fawkes said Big Drama has fully recovered from the 103-degree temperature that kept him out of the Vosburgh and cost him a chance to get in a much-needed final prep for a defense of his Sprint title. Big Drama has raced just twice this season and only once since Jan. 15.
Fawkes drove his two-horse trailer from Florida to New York on Tuesday to pick up Big Drama and stablemate Apriority, who finished an unlucky seventh after getting bumped shortly after the start of the Vosburgh. Both horses will train up to the Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 6-year-old gelding El Gato Malo and the 7-year-old horse Monterey Jazz start for trainer Craig Dollase in Saturday’s $150,000 Oak Tree Mile on turf. A win could lead to either of those veterans making a trip to Churchill Downs next month.
“We’re hoping we can get back to the big dance with both of these guys,” Dollase said.
El Gato Malo, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, was third in the Ralph Hinds Handicap at Fairplex Park on Sept. 25.
“It’s a quick turnaround, but I don’t think that will hurt him,” Dollase said.
Though Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Frizette Stakes is viewed as a showdown between My Miss Aurelia and Stopshoppingmaria, it’s never a good idea to dismiss trainer Shug McGaughey in this race.
McGaughey has won the Frizette five times and goes for his sixth when he sends out Spare Change in the one-mile race. The Frizette is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Spare Change, a daughter of Bernardini, won a seven-furlong maiden race by eight lengths in front-running fashion in her second start. That race, as did her debut, came in the slop.
