ALTOONA, Iowa – The $60,000 Panthers for 3-year-old fillies and the $60,000 Prairie Mile for 3-year-old males on Saturday night at Prairie Meadows, provide an opportunity for those considering a start in the Iowa Oaks or Iowa Derby to race a mile around two turns.
On paper, both events appear extremely deep.
The Panthers, which drew seven hopefuls for the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks on June 25, is led by Awesome Symmetry and Joe Ja, both impressive winners here this season.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Burnin’ Britches will get a serious class test when she runs in the $50,000 Emerald Downs at Hastings Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies drew six horses and goes as race 6 on the seven-race card. The last race goes at 4:20 p.m. Pacific, which should give local hockey fans plenty of time to get home to watch the Vancouver Canucks take on the Boston Bruins in the second game of the Stanley Cup Final. Hastings went with seven races because of the 5 p.m. start of the hockey game.
MIAMI – Owner Frank Calabrese’s decision to run his stable year-round in south Florida was short-lived. Just five weeks into the Calder meeting, Calabrese has announced his intention to ship all 48 horses he presently has stabled on the grounds to Monmouth Park for the remainder of the summer.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When the Churchill Downs Stakes was contested four Saturdays ago on the Kentucky Derby undercard, a number of horses ran very well – but not quite well enough – in the Grade 2 race won by Aikenite in a frantic finish.
Now comes the Grade 3 Aristides at Churchill, and a handful of those horses are back. The question becomes this. Which one will improve enough to prevail?
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’s decision last year to move the Woodbine Oaks back one week to be run on the same card as the Plate Trial provided an interesting and immediate comparison, since both 1 1/8-mile races have produced most of the primary players for the Queen’s Plate in recent years.
Roger Attfield, the dean of stakes trainers locally, has never had a Woodbine Oaks winner repeat in the Queen’s Plate but he has made liberal use of the Plate Trial as a stepping-stone to Queen’s Plate success.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Al Stall Jr. well knows about the disparity in talent among equine brothers and sisters.
“Like the old saying goes, ‘Mrs. Dempsey had nine boys, but only one Jack,’ ” Stall said. “That’s why we’re pleasantly surprised that this filly is turning out as good as she is.”
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If trainer Todd Pletcher has any concern regarding Hilda’s Passion entering Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap at Belmont Park, it’s the amount of weight the multiple stakes-winning filly has to concede to her six competitors.
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Amazombie's stretch run in the Los Angeles Handicap from multiple replay angles.
Amazombie, who finished first in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Handicap on Monday but was disqualified and placed third for causing interference in the stretch, is likely to start in the $250,000 Triple Bend Handicap at seven furlongs on July 2, trainer Bill Spawr said Wednesday.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Naseeb will try to pick up where she left off in the $50,000 allowance feature for filly and mare turf sprinters on Friday at Monmouth Park.
With an 11-race card starting at 12:50 p.m. Eastern, Monmouth shifts into its Friday through Sunday schedule until Labor Day.