Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:42

Hollywood Park: Baffert has pair of Desert Stormer contenders

Reed Palmer Photography
Irish Gypsy, winner of the Valid Expectations last time out at Lone Star Park, is part of a solid two-horse entry for Bob Baffert in the Desert Stormer.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The depth of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s powerful stable has pushed him near the top of the standings at the current Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting, and may provide him with his fifth stakes winner of the season in Sunday’s $70,000 Desert Stormer Handicap.

Baffert, who was one win behind Mike Mitchell through Thursday, has two of the six runners in the six-furlong Desert Stormer – Fund Raiser, unraced since October, and expected favorite Irish Gypsy, who won the Valid Expectations Stakes at Lone Star Park last month.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:42

Monmouth Park: Royal Currier hitting the turf

Alyssa Spakowski/Equi-Photo
Royal Currier, with Stewart Elliott riding, wins the Southampton at Parx

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Royal Currier, a very productive claim, tries turf for the first time on Sunday in the $65,000 Anderson Fowler Stakes for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park.

It could be a whole new dimension for a gelding with solid credentials on the main track.

The Anderson Fowler and the $65,000 Bernie Dowd Handicap for New Jersey breds are the main attractions on Father’s Day, usually one of the best-attended days of the meet. The 12-race card starts at 12:50 p.m.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:20

Canterbury: Tourmaline in sharp form for Northbound Pride Oaks

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The Northbound Pride Oaks on Sunday Canterbury Park matches the well-traveled Tourmaline and the Kentucky shipper Artemus Kitten, while the Brooks Fields Stakes on the same Father’s Day card is headed by Heza Wild Guy, who is still going strong at 10. The one-mile Northbound Pride Oaks for 3-year old fillies and the 7 1/2-furlong Brooks Fields for 3-year olds and up both are worth $35,000 and will be run on turf.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:18

Woodbine: Sand Cove going for repeat in Steady Growth

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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The brilliant Sand Cove, last year’s champion older male runner in Canada, will try to win the $125,000 Steady Growth Stakes for the second year in a row Sunday at Woodbine.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:16

Vessels Maturity at Los Alamitos looks like the spot for Mark It Famous

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – On the evening of June 11, while the runners for a Quarter Horse race were warming up, the 4-year-old gelding Mark it Famous underwent a quick schooling session in the starting gate. The schooling occurred under the lights, just eight days before Sunday’s Vessels Maturity, for which Mark It Famous set the fastest qualifying time in trials on May 29.

“When the horses were warming up, I was schooling him,” trainer Adan Farias said. “His main problem has been the gate. We’ve schooled him a lot, and so far, so good.”

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:04

Fort Erie senior citizen has stolen Davies's heart

FORT ERIE, Ontario – Trainer Norm Davies remembers how his father, the late breeder and trainer Stewart Davies, felt about his horses – and one in particular.

“Dad loved his horses,” said Davies, “and one of his all-time favorites is still in my barn.”

Davies, 55, was referring to his 10-year-old mare Cent T Mint, one of five claimers who make up his small stable at Fort Erie.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:00

Northlands: Salsa Express due for a win

Salsa Express, a winner of seven races in 2010, will be looking for her first win of the season when she runs in a $30,000 claiming race for fillies and mares that will serve as Sunday’s feature at Northlands Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew five well-matched horses and will go as the fourth race.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 12:50

Churchill Downs: Santiva in regrouping stage

Barbara D. Livingston
Santiva ran eighth in the slop in the Belmont Stakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Santiva resumed training at Churchill Downs several days after another disappointing effort in the Belmont Stakes and will be pointed to “one of the appropriate spots” in the coming weeks, according to trainer Eddie Kenneally.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 12:34

Woodbine: Casse plans to go three-deep in Queen's Plate

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse has had a total of seven starters in five runnings of the Queen’s Plate, with his best finish a fourth-place finish with Tasty Temptation in 2009.

Next Sunday, Casse plans to take a triple-barreled shot at the $1 million Queen’s Plate with Strike Oil, Hippolytus, and Enduring Star all being pointed for the 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

“It’s all systems go, at this point in time,” said Casse, after watching his Queen’s Plate candidates work on the main track here at Woodbine on Friday morning.

Fri, 06/17/2011 - 10:41

Canterbury: Scott Stevens hurt in gate accident

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – For the second summer in a row, jockey Scott Stevens has been injured in an accident at Canterbury Park. Stevens, 50, broke his right shoulder blade and chipped a bone in his left shoulder Thursday morning when a horse he was schooling at the gate reared, tossed him into the gate, then flipped over onto him.

“The nurse at St. Francis had never seen a broken scapula before,” Stevens said of his shoulder blade on Friday. “But I don’t feel that bad. If my arm wasn’t in a sling, I could ride.”