SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sidney’s Candy’s six rivals in the $150,000 Fourstardave may want to get a good look at him entering the starting gate, because that’s likely as close as they’ll get to the speedy Grade 1 winner until they pull up at the end of the Grade 2 turf fixture Sunday at Saratoga.
Fullofenergy, who will be seeking his fifth consecutive Land of Enchantment Handicap victory at Ruidoso Downs on Sunday, is one of 16 horses trainer Joel Marr will send out on a New Mexico-bred program of stakes worth more than $1.1 million.
The 10-race Zia Festival features six stakes for Thoroughbreds and four for Quarter Horses.
Laurel Park, the Maryland track that has begun to receive subsidies from state casinos, has resurrected one of the track’s most historic races, the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, for the 2011 fall meet following a one-year hiatus, the track announced on Friday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Blind Luck will be nominated to the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 28, with the possibility that she will face males in that race and bypass a trip to New York or New Jersey for a late summer stakes, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Friday.
The champion 3-year-old filly of 2010, Blind Luck has won 12 of 21 starts and $3,279,520, but has never faced males in a career that includes 10 graded stakes wins.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Canterbury Park will host the signature race of its meet on Sunday when 10 fillies and mares take to the turf course in the $75,000 Lady Canterbury Stakes.
The race, contested over a mile, headlines Fillies Race for Hope, a day of horseracing and fundraising for the Hope Chest for Breast Cancer Foundation. Since 2001, Hope Chest has provided over $1 million in support for more than 2,000 breast cancer patients and their families in the Twin Cities area.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Phil Hall is hoping to win his second straight B.C. Cup Day race with Jump Up and Kissme in the 1 1/16-mile Stellar’s Jay for 3-year-olds.
The Stellar’s Jay is one of seven $50,000 stakes races restricted to British Columbia-breds that will make up the bulk of the 10-race B.C. Cup card this Monday.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Get Serious, under intense pressure from starting gate to finish line, held off Violon Sacre’s stretch challenge by a neck in the thrilling conclusion of last year’s Grade 3, Oceanport Stakes at Monmouth Park.
They return for this year’s renewal on Sunday, one of the main attractions on the Haskell Day undercard. The two rivals both appear vulnerable in the rematch, however.
Although his top turf runner, Antares World, is being freshened, trainer Steve Specht is feeling good about his chances in Sunday’s $50,000-added Luther Burbank at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, Calif. He will sadle Lady Railrider, who will break from the outside post among 10 fillies and mares set to contest the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes.
Audzeezee should appreciate the easier company she will be facing in a first-level allowance race for fillies and mares that will serve as Sunday’s feature at Hastings. The 1 1/16-mile race drew a mixed lot and it appears any of the six horses entered could win it.
Hastings-based Overvalued and Castinette Dancer could have their hands full when they take on Embellished in the $50,000 Northlands Oaks at Northlands Park Sunday. The one-mile feature for 3-year-fillies attracted 10 horses and it features a matchup between the top two fillies at Hastings versus the local star Embellished.
Despite missing some training due a bruised foot, Embellished was able to get up in time to edge Maegans Princesses in the $50,000 Chariot Chaser July 9.
“She got there with her will,” said her trainer, Rick Hedge.
