OCEANPORT, N.J. – Say a Novena, battled-tested in the Grade 2 Matron at Belmont Park, tops the field for the $70,000 Colleen Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
The 5 1/2-furlong Colleen is the prep for $100,000 Sorority, the meet’s top event for 2-year-old fillies on Sept. 5.
The announcement this week by Turfway Park president Bob Elliston that the track was reviving its Kentucky Cup races thanks largely to sponsorship from WinStar Farm came at a particularly important time for the series, considering the graded status of the races would have been lost if they were canceled for a second straight year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse sent out three horses for this year’s Queen’s Plate, with his best result being a second-place finish with Hippolytus.
Enduring Star, who finished 11th, and Strike Oil, 14th in the field of 17, currently are hors de combat.
Casse, however, still will field another trio for Sunday’s $500,000 Breeders’ as Hippolytus wll be joined by Control and Blackstone Bay in the 1 1/2-mile turf race that is the final leg of the triple crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
Trainer Bret Calhoun has gone 20 for 44 with his 2-year-old starters this year, with his latest head-turning juvenile dominating a recent maiden special weight at Louisiana Downs. Indisputable set the pace in the July 29 race before going on to an 11 1/2-length win.
“He’s a nice horse,” Calhoun said. “They tried to press him a little bit early. It didn’t really bother him at all. He sat there and when he was called on he drew off.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Prince of Wales Stakes winner Pender Harbour will experiment on the grass in the 120th running of the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the final race of the Canadian Triple Crown at Woodbine on Sunday.
The mile and a half Breeders’, for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, is likely to have 13 starters after losing a major contender Friday when trainer Todd Pletcher said he wasn’t sending the Saratoga-based Queen’splatekitten, because he didn’t like the way that the horse was doing. Queen’splatekitten has been idle since finishing fifth in the June 26 Plate.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Troy Taylor isn’t sure if he is going to ship Commander to Northlands Park for the Grade 3, $300,000 Canadian Derby Aug. 20 or keep him at Hastings and run him in the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial Aug. 14.
FORT ERIE, Ontario – Trainer Sorrel Schoenberger, 31, sent her first two starters to the post four years ago, but then received an offer she couldn’t turn down and put her training career on hold.
Schoenberger’s mother, Julie, was searching the Internet and came across an extensive Thoroughbred scholarship program. In short order, Schoenberger completed an application.
In 2008, she received word of her selection, packed her bags, and headed to Kildangan Stud Farm in Ireland to begin the two-year program.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Queen'splatekitten, the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Sunday's Breeders' Stakes, will not be making the trip to Woodbine.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who is with Queen'splatekitten at Saratoga, said Friday that he is not completely happy with how the horse is doing at this time.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s supporting feature, the $125,000 Nandi Stakes, drew a field of just five Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies, headed by Notacloudinthesky and I Am in Front.
Notacloudinthesky, owned by the Donver Stable of Verne and Donna Dubinsky, will be seeking her second straight victory after scoring by four lengths in a restricted maiden dash at 5 1/2 furlongs.
Trained by Josie Carroll, Notacloudinthesky finished fourth in her five-furlong opener, but was just 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The matchups are set, the boisterous press conference is over, and the side bet has been determined. It’s time for Sunday’s “Battle of the Exes” match race between the former couple Chantal Sutherland and Mike Smith at Del Mar.
The one-mile race is the fourth on a 10-race program. Smith, who turns 46 on Wednesday, will ride Joker Face from the inside post, while Sutherland, 35, rides Parable. Joker Face is the 3-5 favorite on the morning line, Parable is even-money. The horses are maiden claimers who are making their first starts at the meeting.
