The purse increase that went into effect at Louisiana Downs last Saturday was rescinded beginning with Thursday’s 10-race program.
The two-day, $4,000-per-race hike represented a substantial 25percent increase over previous levels. The additional purse money will instead be distributed retroactively to when the meeting began in early May, according to the president of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Sean Alfortish.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Roger Attfield will not have an entrant in Sunday’s Woodbine Mile. But that will be the only local stakes dance which will take place without an Attfield presence this weekend.
On Sunday, Attfield has entered Spice Route and Perfect Shower in the Grade 1, $750,000 Northern Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and upward, and Miss Keller in the Grade 2, $300,000 Canadian, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
On Saturday, Attfield has Stormy Rush in the $250,000 Summer and Sheba’s Secret in the $200,000 Natalma.
The Grade 3, $200,000 Connally Turf Cup is the richest of 14 stakes that Sam Houston Race Park will pack into a 27-date meet that opens Jan. 21. The1 1/8-mile race for older horses is to be run Jan. 29 as part of a consolidated schedule that will feature record purses of $160,000 a program. The season will continue through March 7.
“We’re thrilled to be offering a boutique meet,” said Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston. “This is the window of time when our meet has always been the best.”
Belle of the Hall and Derwin’s Star, separated by less than a length when they met three months ago in a $200,000 stakes, challenge queen of the West Virginia-bred fillies Down Town Allen in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks on Saturday.
The seven-furlong Oaks, the richest sprint for 3-year-old fillies in the country, headlines a four-stakes card that begins at 6 p.m. Eastern and includes two other six-figure races, the Miss Shenandoah and the Charles Town Juvenile.
Short-priced favorites figure to dominate most of the seven stakes, worth a total of $350,000, on Fall Classic Day at Northlands Park Saturday. All seven races are restricted to Alberta-breds and make up the bulk of the 11-race card, which begins at 1 p.m.
Fall Classic Day is the second biggest day of the year at Northlands and also serves as an advertisement for the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s Alberta Thoroughbred sale in Red Deer this Thursday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Among three horses he has been on in races earlier this summer, Jono Jones chose to ride Stormy Rush in Saturday’s $250,000 Summer Stakes, which makes the unbeaten Stormy Rush an imposing contender in the one-mile turf route for 2-year-olds at Woodbine. The winner gets an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs, as part of the Win and You’re In program.
Marquis Downs will close out its 2010 meeting on Saturday with a 10-race card featuring the rescheduled Prairie Lily Stakes.
The $25,000 Prairie Lily, for 2-year-olds who passed through the local yearling sale, originally was scheduled for last Friday but that card was canceled after torrential rains left the racetrack submerged.
Striking Time, who if anything will benefit from the extra week’s rest, has towered over his opposition in Saskatoon this season, with three wins in as many starts by an aggregate total of 26 1/2 lengths.
Double Shuffle, undefeated since relocating to Assiniboia Downs this spring, will be looking for his fifth consecutive victory in the $72,500 Gold Cup on Saturday.
The Gold Cup, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and upward, is the feature on an eight-race card that also includes the $50,000 Winnipeg Futurity for 2-year-olds and the $50,000 J.W. Sifton for Manitoba-bred 3-year-olds.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A dramatically improved Rainbowsinthewood looks like the one to beat in Saturday’s feature race at Hastings. The $25,000 claiming race for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles drew seven horses and goes as race 7.