Beijing House and Remarkable Storm, two horses who have made the most of their limited opporutnities racing at Finger Lakes, will see if their familiarity with the local surface is enough of an advantage over talented Saratoga shipper Ruffino in Saturday’s $50,000 Genesee Valley Breeders’ Stakes.
The 1 1/16-mile Genesee Valley, restricted to New York-breds, drew a field of nine, including a coupled entry for trainer Luis Gonzalez.
Trainer Jim Meyaard wasn’t exactly happy with the 126 pounds assigned to Salt Flat Speed for the $50,000 Westerner Handicap at Northlands Park on Saturday. Nonetheless, Meyaard was confident Salt Flat Speed would be able the handle the heavy impost when he runs in the 1 1/16-mile feature that drew seven horses and goes as race 7.
“When he works, he carries 140 to 145 pounds, so it shouldn’t slow him down too much,” Meyaard said.
Son of a Bear may be the best 3-year-old male on the grounds at Charles Town. But is he faster than the 3-year-old filly I Just Did It?
The answer should be revealed when I Just Did It challenges males for the first time in Saturday night’s $50,000 Robert Levitt Stakes. The seven-furlong race for West Virginia-bred 3-year-olds is the first local prep for horses on the road to the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic program on Oct. 16.
The Levitt is a stepping-stone to the seven-furlong West Virginia Lottery.
AUBURN, Wash. – Davos, a talented but star-crossed 5-year-old, is the horse to beat Saturday in the feature race at Emerald Downs.
The card begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, and the feature, a second-level optional $50,000 claimer for older horses at a mile, is the eighth of nine races.
All things being equal, Exhi might deserve to be favored Saturday in the 41st running of the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Racetrack in Chester, W.Va. After all, he has won his last four races, all stakes, for trainer Todd Pletcher.
However, it’s difficult not to notice that the streak came entirely on synthetic surfaces. But Pletcher maintains that before and after the latest win, the June 27 Victoria Park at Woodbine, Exhi trained exceptionally on the dirt surfaces of Saratoga.
“He’s been training very well on dirt,” Pletcher said this week from Saratoga.
Little Drama will try to follow in his older brother Big Drama’s footsteps when he goes postward as the heavy favorite to win Saturday’s $100,000 Dr. Fager Stakes, the first leg of the open division of Calder’s traditional Florida Stallion Stakes series. The Dr. Fager shares top billing on the card with its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Desert Vixen for 2-year-old fillies.
Although trainer Cliff Delima feels confident about Perfect Curl’s chances to repeat her Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes victory in Saturday’s $50,000 Wine Country Debutante at the Sonoma County Fair, he’s taking no chances.
Normally based at Pleasanton, Delima brought Perfect Curls to the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, Calif., along with stablemate Tiz Blushing, and has worked both 2-year-old fillies over the track.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Toni Cloutier has a strong one-two punch with Meux Power and Kwik in Saturday’s feature race at Hastings. The $35,000 optional race for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles drew seven horses and goes as race 7.
Everything is just how Terrel Gore wants it. Not only is his stable star, Shadowbdancing, coming off a terrific last-out win in the Grade 2 Cornhusker Handicap, but the 5-year-old horse also will be returning to the scene of one of his career-best performances when he races Saturday as the defending champion in the $125,000 West Virginia Governor’s Handicap at Mountaineer Racetrack.