Central City finished second in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, while Due Date was a close and troubled sixth in the same race. Saturday at Fair Grounds, both horses start in the Bonapaw Stakes, a turf sprint with a field soaring far beyond its $60,000 purse.
“This is a lot of race for a little money,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who will send Grade 2 winner Backtalk to his turf debut in the 5 1/2-furlong Bonapaw.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Seven accomplished sprinters will audition for a possible start in the Jan. 8 Pelican Stakes when they go postward in a $24,500 allowance sprint over six furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday.
The Pelican prep is an intriguing race with runners entered off last starts ranging from Laurel Park in Maryland to Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. But the horse to beat has local ties as Gerald Bennett sends out Black Belt, a versatile and speedy West Virginia-bred who will be seeking his fifth win from 15 starts in 2010.
Gulfstream Park will introduce a new wagering menu at its 2011 meet featuring low takeout rates in some of the more popular exotic wagers. The 2011 meet opens on Jan. 5.
Among the features of the new menu is a 50-cent pick five with what track officials say is nation-low 15 percent takeout rate. Monmouth Park had previously offered the lowest pick five takeout in the country, at 17 percent this past season.
Littlesouthernswing and Heza Bold Color will have to overcome outside posts to win the $120,000 Challenger Six Handicap at Sunland Park on Saturday. The 870-yard race for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds is restricted to horses bred in New Mexico.
Littlesouthernswing won the $148,000 New Mexico Cup Challenge at 870 yards in his last start Oct. 31, when he broke from post 3 and held for a neck win over the rail horse, Heza Bold Color. This time around, Littlesouthernswing drew post 6, and Heza Bold Color, gate 8.
It took William Henry six starts to find the winner’s circle. Now, he’s made a habit of visiting the enclosure. William Henry brings a three-race win streak into Saturday’s $129,700 Evangeline Downs Quarter Horse Futurity, a 400-yard stakes that closes out the meet.
William Henry will face nine others, including a trio of starters from trainer Erika Huitron. Huitron is winning with 35 percent of her starters at Evangeline and will be represented by the Grade 3-placed Reba Reba Corona and the coupled entry of Cocopata and Lady Nayen.
PHOENIX – Limestone Edge has been competitive with graded stakes horses like El Gato Malo, Rail Trip, and Mast Track, while racing at high-level sites like Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and the major Southern California tracks. But those races came a long time ago, and he took a one-year hiatus, from November 2009 to November of this year. Still, an encouraging return run last month may send him favored in Saturday’s $25,000 Hank Mills Sr. Handicap at Turf Paradise. The mile main-track event for 3-year-olds and upward drew a field of 10.
There has been a common theme to the 2010 campaign of Princelike, the 3-year-old Quarter Horse: Qualify for a major derby with a solid performance in the trials, but fail to duplicate the effort in the final.
Earlier this year, Princelike was second in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February, second in the Golden State Derby in August, and fourth in the Los Alamitos Super Derby on Nov. 6.
MIAMI – Trainer Michelle Nihei will never forget the disappointment of Breeders’ Cup Day when she watched Prince Will I Am finish second in the Marathon only to be disqualified and placed 10th for causing interference on the final turn. Nihei will take the first step toward putting that experience behind her when she sends Prince Will I Am out as one of the favorites in Saturday’s $150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap on the turf at Calder.
Princess Cecilia puts her perfect record on the line when she stretches out substantially in distance for Saturday night’s $50,000 Eleanor Casey Memorial Stakes at Charles Town.
The seven-furlong stakes, restricted to West-Virginia-bred 2-year-old fillies, drew a field of nine, including the coupled entry of Slew of Bullets and Bonnie de Castle.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Calder Race Course is fairly far south of Cape Canaveral, but this fall, it has been a launching pad for 2-year-old success. Awesome Feather came out of Calder and won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, likely securing a year-end championship. Gourmet Dinner made his first four starts at Calder, then last month won the Delta Downs Jackpot.
