The annual Turfway Park showcase is right around the corner, and a tangible reminder of that race, the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, will be on hand Saturday night at the Florence, Ky., track.
Dean’s Kitten, the colt who won the race last year when it was still known as the Lane’s End Stakes, will be trying for his first victory in the year that has passed when he runs in the $50,000 Tejano Run Stakes.
The Vinery Spiral will be run for the 40th time March 26.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trickmeister, who emerged as a potential force to be reckoned with in the 3-year-old division during the summer of 2010 before being sidelined by cannon bone issues, is back with Richard Dutrow Jr. at Gulfstream Park and had his trainer all smiles at the barn on Thursday morning.
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – If The Factor shows the same brilliance routing that he has sprinting in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn, he’ll emerge as one of the flashiest prospects on the road to the Kentucky Derby. If he fails to carry his speed, he could be exiting the Louisville-bound freeway Saturday.
Two-time stakes winner Bandbox, narrowly beaten as the odds-on favorite in last month’s Miracle Wood, and Rush Now, a stakes winner as a 2-year-old who was given a confidence booster when dropped in for a claiming price, meet for the first time in Saturday’s $75,000 Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park.
The one-mile Private Terms drew a field of eight 3-year-olds, but just three of them – Bandbox, restricted stakes winner Concealed Identity, and the 1-for-6 Distorted Appeal – are Triple Crown nominees.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There will be little secret when it comes to Saturday’s $150,000 Inside Information Stakes at Gulfstream Park. They’re going to have to catch Hilda’s Passion.
Key’s Band has won multiple stakes in his career, and not all of them have been restricted to Thoroughbreds. He has defeated Quarter Horses more than once at 870-yards, and his brand of speed should serve him well Saturday when he defends his title in the $100,000 Mt. Cristo Rey Handicap at 4 1/2 furlongs at Sunland Park.
A full field of 10 has been entered, including Daddy O., who has won his last six races in a streak that began in December 2008.
PHOENIX – The question for both the $25,000 Tempe Handicap and $25,000 Scottsdale Handicap at Turf Paradise on Saturday is the same: Can the favorites handle turf?
The two fixtures, both for 3-year-olds, represent a first crack at grass for the main protagonists. The Tempe Handicap, for 3-year-olds, is at a mile on the turf, drew a field of 12, and goes as race 8. The Scottsdale is also at a mile on the turf, but is for 3-year-old fillies, and lured eight as race 5.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Teaks North roared from off the pace to get up in the final strides of the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap for a stunning upset in his 2011 debut. He drops to Grade 3 competition for Saturday’s $125,000 Tampa Bay Stakes but is far from a shoo-in as he faces an overflow field of diverse turf runners in the 1 1/16-mile stakes.
Teaks North won four of eight starts last year as a 3-year-old, including the $100,000 Restoriation Stakes on the turf at Monmouth and the $70,000 Big Brown at a mile and a sixteenth over the main track at the same oval.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Blind Luck, The Factor and Sway Away all rolled through the Oaklawn Park backstretch around 5:15 p.m. Central on Wednesday, in town for stakes races on Saturday. The horses flew in from Southern California along with Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger, who is being pointed for the Grade 3, $200,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn on April 14, said his trainer, Jeff Bonde.
Trainer Allen Jerkens sent out Precious Soul to an impressive debut win here at Gulfstream Park last Sunday and is hopeful the 3-year-old daughter of Distorted Humor could turn out to be stakes caliber, just like her older sister Society Selection.
