Dialed In will be shooting for a $5.5 million bonus in the Preakness Stakes on May 21 at Pimlico, but not until very recently did Dale Romans, the trainer of Shackleford, realize that his colt is in line for smaller, albeit significant, bonus as well.
“I didn’t know about it until yesterday,” Romans said Thursday on a national teleconference. “It’s a little more incentive to go there.”
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Craig MacPherson is hoping that taking the blinkers off will make Belle Evangeline a more relaxed horse when she runs in the Hastings feature Saturday. Even without the equipment change, Belle Evangeline looks like the one to beat in the first-level $50,000 optional claiming race at 6 1/2 furlongs. She is one of seven 3-year-old fillies in the field.
AUBURN, Wash. – Bijou Barrister, a revelation last year when he rattled off a seven-race win streak, is scheduled to make his first start of the Emerald Downs season in Saturday’s seventh race, the co-featured event on a nine-race card beginning at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Western Woods is going to take some catching when he runs in Saturday’s seventh race at Northlands Park. The 3 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up running for a $22,000 claiming tag attracted seven horses, including stakes winners Robo Willie and Zuri Mwana.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Mr. Commons, third in the Santa Anita Derby last month, will be ridden by Victor Espinoza in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21, trainer John Shirreffs said on Thursday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The favorite in the feature race last Saturday at Churchill Downs went off at 5-1. That might not be quite the case this Saturday, when a somewhat less prominent feature, the $63,000 Unbridled Sidney, is run at Churchill, but the depth and competitiveness of the five-furlong turf race suggests there is wagering value to be had.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Officials at Churchill Downs weren’t the only ones smiling in the aftermath of their record-breaking Kentucky Derby last Saturday. The folks at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky also were very proud that their premier race, the Vinery Spiral Racing Stakes, produced the emphatic winner, Animal Kingdom.
ALBANY, Calif. – Plenty of talent will be on display Saturday at Golden Gate Fields when eight 3-year-olds compete in the $75,000 Alcatraz at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Four last-race winners, three runners that finished within one-half length of each other in their last start, a stakes-placed sprinter stretching out, and a runner who has been testing tougher stakes foes down south make for an interesting race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Dr. Zic shipped up from Kentucky last year to finish second in the Grade 3 Hendrie Stakes.
On Saturday, Dr. Zic will be looking to go one better when she returns from her Keeneland base for the 6 1/2-furlong Hendrie for fillies and mares.
“We were happy with how she ran last year,” said Joan Scott, who trains Dr. Zic and also is among the group of owners who will be here to provide vocal support in the Hendrie.
“I hope we’ll be even happier this year. She’s doing well, and she loves the Poly.”
Five days before the end of January, the 4-year-old filly Sarah’s Song was still a maiden. By mid-March, she owned just one win and had run no faster than a 69 on the Beyer Speed Figure scale. Nevertheless, a good performance in Saturday’s $50,000 Winter Melody Stakes at Delaware Park could make Sarah’s Song a viable candidate for the track’s premier event, the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 16.
