I Am Awesome, upset winner of the one-mile Wheat City in his last start on July 6, will be looking to confirm that form in Saturday’s $25,000 R.J. Speers at Assiniboia Downs.
The R.J. Speers, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and upward, will be the first of five stakes run at Assiniboia over the long weekend with Monday’s $75,000 Manitoba Derby the undisputed highlight.
The top race for older horses features a World Champion. The leading race for older females includes the winner of a seven-figure futurity. The evening’s derby is wide open and the corresponding futurity features a pair of juveniles who ran career-best races in recent time trials.
The California Breeders’ Champion Night for statebred Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos on Saturday features notable runners in four of the nine stakes on the 13-race program.
Hastings invader Inhisglory figures to be a short price to win the $50,000 Count Lathum at Northlands Park Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile feature drew five horses and will serve as the final local prep for the Grade 3, $300,000 Canadian Derby at Northlands Aug. 20.
Also on the 10-race card is the $50,000 Canadian Juvenile. Dougs Buddy and No Big Deal appear to be the main players in the six-furlong sprint, which drew six horses.
Ann’s Smart Dancer has won 3 of 4 starts while racing almost exclusively against fellow 3-year-old fillies. Project Rose boasts a 6-for-9 record running on synthetic surfaces, but has never raced on dirt.
Considering that Saturday’s $75,000 Power by Far for Pennsylvania-breds will be contested at six furlongs on Parx Racing’s main track and five of the six fillies and mares are 4-years-old and up, both Ann’s Smart Dancer and Project Rose have something to prove, despite their otherwise impressive credentials.
Out of Goodbyes is out of excuses as last year’s top 3-year-old Massachusetts-bred filly tries to break a losing streak in Saturday’s $50,000 Isadorable Stakes at Suffolk Downs.
By winning both the Louise Kimball Stakes and the African Prince Stakes against males, Out of Goodbyes made it clear she was the best statebred in her class in 2010. In three starts this season, however, success has been harder to come by.
With one classic victory apiece, both Shackleford and Ruler On Ice are very close atop the 3-year-old division. When the two meet in Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, they will be equally close – at least before the starting gates open.
Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has three top contenders for Saturday’s $50,000-added Diamond Jubilee at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Hollendorfer’s troika is headed by multiple stakes winner Cathy’s Crunches, who won three straight stakes at Golden Gate Fields last fall. Although she’s 0 for 3 this year, Cathy’s Crunches hit the board in all three starts, including a pair of turf stakes, one of which was the Grade 3 La Habra at Santa Anita.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If Uncle Mo continues to progress at this rate, the Grade 1 King’s Bishop might not be so unrealistic for his return after all.
Uncle Mo worked a half-mile in 50.38 seconds Thursday morning over Saratoga’s main track, his second breeze in six days and second since returning to trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn following a two-month stint on a farm.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Queen Street Beach wore down pacemaker Altius in the stretch to land his stakes debut in the $125,000 Deputy Minister on Wednesday night at Woodbine.
Queen Street Beach ($3.40) kept his unbeaten record intact in the seven-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds. He won his first two starts in maiden and allowance company, and on Wednesday collected $75,000 for Melnyk Racing Stable in the Deputy Minister.
