AUBURN, Wash. – Exclusive Diva, a fast horse with fancy bloodlines, figures to be a strong favorite Sunday in the $50,000 Angie C Stakes at Emerald Downs. The daughter of Bernardini won her debut with ease last month and would seem to have a stakes victory or two in her immediate future. But she’ll have to contend with the less-heralded, but perhaps no-less talented, Royal Moses in the meeting’s first open stakes race for 2-year-old fillies.
Owner Fred Brei and trainer Stanley Gold swept the open division of the 2009 Stallion Series with Jackson Bend and the filly division a year ago with their ultimate Eclipse Award winner Awesome Feather. The pair will begin their quest for another sweep when sending out a couple of leading contenders in both the $75,000 Desert Vixen and Dr. Fager stakes, which kick off the six-race Stallion Series on Saturday at Calder.
ALTOONA, Iowa – Saturday evening’s Iowa Classic Night, featuring seven stakes races worth over a combined $530,000, brings together the best Iowa-breds in training, all 51 of which are stabled at Prairie Meadows. The races that start and finish the stakes program, the $75,000 Iowa Cradle and the $85,000 Donna Reed, carry significant intrigue.
The Iowa Cradle, a six-furlong juvenile event which drew six geldings and one colt, brings forth a rematch between probable favorite Beware the Devil and Voodooville.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – A better post and the absence of Flashpoint makes the $75,000 Select Stakes for 3-year-olds a more favorable spot for Zero Rate Policy on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Last time out, Zero Rate Policy had the rail on a muddy track in the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes over the Independence Day weekend. Trainer Terri Pompay knew combination of the off track, the innermost post, and Flashpoint spelled trouble.
As usual, Zero Rate Policy was out and winging early. He ran hard and fast before fading to fourth.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though the race was run at a longer distance than perhaps his filly prefers and conducted over a sloppy track, trainer Mike Puype offered no excuses when Turbulent Descent was beaten as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park on June 11. Instead, he praised the winner and was ready to move on to the next objective.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Following a recent trend the mutuel handle for B.C. Cup Day at Hastings was up by over 10 percent compared with last year. The total handle for the 10 races was easily the largest of the year at $1,172,104 compared with $1,062,846 in 2010.
Todd Pletcher will be busy Saturday at Saratoga when running Mission Impazible in the Whitney Handicap and horses in five other races, but perhaps he will find a couple of spare minutes to focus his attention on the goings-on at Mountaineer Park, where Pletcher will have Modern Cowboy as a main contender in the $125,000 West Virginia Governor’s, the secondary feature on an all-stakes Saturday card at the Chester, W.Va., track.
Turfway Park officials announced Thursday that the Kentucky Cup series will return to the fall meet after a one-year hiatus, with WinStar Farm as a new presenting sponsor.
All five Kentucky Cup events are being revived, led by the Grade 2, $200,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and upward. The series is set for Sept. 24 at the Florence, Ky., track.
After the Classic, the other races all are $100,000 – the Distaff, Sprint, Juvenile, and Juvenile Fillies.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Switch has come so close to winning a Grade 1 race around two turns this year that trainer John Sadler is planning only the slightest strategy change before Saturday’s $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.
Jockey Joel Rosario will be asked to rate Switch just behind expected pacesetter Freedom Star, with the hope that a close position can lead to a win in the Grade 1 race over 1 1/16 miles.
“We thought we’d go for a change this time,” Sadler said. “She relaxed a little too much last time. We want more of a stalking trip than we’ve had before.”
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – On Saturday, Canterbury Park will host its annual “Extreme Day” of racing. The day will feature the ostrich and camel races found on most extreme day cards, several races with unique conditions and distances, as well as the more traditional $33,000 North Central Quarter Horse Association Futurity.
