Can Russell Road become the third horse to win back-to-back runnings of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, joining Confucius Say and Speed Whiz? Or can Black Belt continue a trend in which 3-year-olds have won the last two runnings of the race?
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Make Music for Me has had a somewhat unconventional career.
He was third in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity as a maiden last year as a 2-year-old, and won his first race in his seventh career start in the Pasadena Stakes on turf at Santa Anita last March. Later in the spring, he was fourth in the Kentucky Derby and ninth in the Belmont Stakes on June 5, his most recent start.
The win in the minor turf stakes last March looms as a major factor when Make Music for Me makes his comeback in Saturday’s $150,000 Oak Tree Derby on turf at Hollywood Park.
Poseidon’s Warrior and Steady Warrior, both coming off dominant victories in six-figure stakes at other Mid-Atlantic tracks, return to Delaware Park for the most intriguing of four stakes on Saturday’s card restricted to Delaware-certified horses.
All four stakes are worth $75,000 and are limited to horses that spent a minimum of 90 days on a Delaware farm or training facility prior to March 31 of their 2-year-old year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Redwood blew into town last month for the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes, and ran like a favorite should, winning the 1 1/2-mile contest after a perfect trip. If he avoids a regressive “Euro-bounce” Saturday at Woodbine after shipping home to England and then back again in a four-week span, then he should be competitive in the 73rd running of the $2 million Canadian International.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Graham Motion is a racing fan besides being one of the most successful trainers in North America today, so he has a great appreciation of what could occur Saturday in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.
“It’s a remarkable showdown of East versus West,” said Motion. “There are a few other serious fillies in there, but if it comes down to our filly and Evening Jewel, this race could be something special.”
The Northlands Park meet that ended last Monday had average daily all-sources handle of $222,059, down 7 percent from last year’s average of $239,515.
The 84-day meet at the Edmonton, Alberta, track handled a total of $18,652,965, a 12 percent decline from 2009. Last year, at an 89-day meet, $21,316,835 was wagered from all sources.
Newcomer Anthony Salgado was the leading jockey at the meet with 85 wins. Shannon Beauregard made a late run to finish second with 79. Robertino Diodoro was a clear winner over Jim Meyaard in the trainers’ race with 65 wins to Meyaard’s 44.
In an odd twist, rival trainer Jose Antonio Flores will be rooting for the reigning Quarter Horse World Champion, Freaky, to defend his title in the $150,000 Los Alamitos Championship on Saturday night.
Flores does not have a runner in the Grade 1 race, deciding to skip the 440-yard championship with A Tempting Dash, who upset Freaky in the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos on Sept. 11.
But if Freaky wins the Los Alamitos Championship, A Tempting Dash will receive an automatic berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 11, the season-ending goal for Flores.
Woodbine will look like Longchamp West on Saturday, as 15 of the 28 horses lining up for the three Grade 1 races on Canadian International Day are trained in Europe.
The E.P. Taylor Stakes resembles division 2 of the Prix de l’Opera, with eight of the 10 females in the 1 1/4-mile contest trained in Europe, and it is the Oct. 3 running of the Opera that may hold the key to the E.P. Taylor outcome.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Which version of Marsh Side will show up this Saturday for the $2 million Canadian International?
Marsh Side will be making his fourth appearance in the Grade 1, 1 1/2-mile turf race, with the first dating back to 2007 when he finished last of 12 in his last start for trainer Michael Dickinson.
Neil Drysdale took over as Marsh Side’s trainer the following year and saddled him for a 29-1 upset in Canada’s richest Thoroughbred race.