MIAMI − The volatile south Florida weather and availability of the turf course could go a long way in deciding two of the three races on the undercard of Saturday’s Festival of the Sun Preview program at Calder.
The $65,000 Needles and its filly counterpart, the $65,000 Judy’s Red Shoes, are carded at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, but with heavy rainfall earlier in the week and more rain in the forecast for Saturday, chances are good both races will be decided on the main track.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Local star Dearest Princess could have her hands full when she faces a couple of strong invaders in the $75,000 British Columbia Oaks at Hastings on Saturday. The 1 1/8-mile feature attracted a strong field of nine 3-year-old fillies, all of whom will carry 121 pounds. The Oaks heads a nine-race card that includes three supporting stakes.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – There are two handicapping roads to go down in the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby, and both require taking a stance on morning-line favorite Hurricane Ike. He is the controlling speed in the 1 1/8-mile race, but he has never won beyond a mile or at two turns. For those who believe Hurricane Ike can get the trip, the Super Derby is an easy read. But for dissenters, there are several options in the six-horse field Saturday.
MIAMI – Saturday’s Festival of the Sun Preview card at Calder may be missing its two marquee names, but there could be some stars in the making amongst the large fields that will assemble for the $85,000 Brave Raj and Foolish Pleasure Stakes. The one-mile and 70 yard Brave Raj and Foolish Pleasure are two of the five stakes races to be decided on the marathon 13-race program.
Multiple graded stakes winner Hooh Why tops a field of 11 older fillies and mares in Saturday’s H.B.P.A., one of three $100,000 stakes at Presque Isle Downs.
Run at a mile and 70 yards, the H.B.P.A. is the featured ninth race on the card, the last of the track’s 100-day meet.
Hooh Why comes into the H.B.P.A. off a 1 3/4-length win in the Grade 3 Seaway at seven furlongs at Woodbine on Sept. 4 and will have a bit of a home-field advantage Saturday, according to her trainer, Maria Bowersock.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Big Red Mike and Hotep, the top two finishers in this year’s Queen’s Plate, will meet Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Ontario Derby. The nine-furlong route has lured seven other 3-year-olds, including Grade 1 Blue Grass winner Stately Victor.
Big Red Mike is trained by Nick Gonzalez, who won the 2007 Ontario Derby with longshot Artie Hot.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Monmouth Park will once again host a charity benefit card Saturday that blends steeplechase and flat racing. Five of the 12 races are sponsored by the National Steeplechase Association, including the day’s main event: the Grade 1, $100,000 Helen Haskell Sampson Stakes at 2 1/2 miles over National Fences.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Overvalued figures to be a short price in the $50,000 Fantasy for 2-year-old fillies at Hastings on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile Fantasy joins the $25,000 Delta Colleen for fillies and mares and the six-furlong Derby Bar and Grill Ladies Express in supporting the $75,000 British Columbia Oaks.
Many of the six horses entered in the Fantasy have good speed, and they will all be stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time.
The Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup and two $100,000 stakes for 2-year-olds are among four stakes restored to the stakes schedule for the Hollywood Park fall meeting from Nov. 4 to Dec. 19 after being dropped from the 2009 schedule because of financial pressure.
Power Button will try and make it three wins in a row when she tackles a closely matched group of fillies and mares running in the seventh race at Northlands Park on Saturday. The six-furlong sprint that will serve as the feature attracted seven horses running for a $7,500 claiming price and it appears to be a wide-open race.