DEL MAR, Calif. – Zenyatta is likely to have six rivals in the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday, if the undefeated two-time champion starts in the Grade 1 race.
While trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss have yet to commit Zenyatta to the Grade 1 Hirsch, Shirreffs has mapped out a schedule for Zenyatta to be ready for the race.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The illness that contributed to Stormin Rae finishing second in his debut in June was long gone when he beat maidens by more than four lengths at Hollywood Park last month.
The maiden race win pushed Stormin Rae to the fore of California’s 2-year-old male division as the group approaches its first stakes of the year in Southern California in Wednesday’s $100,000 Graduation Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A sharp Dancingall Theway will seek his third consecutive score Wednesday night at Woodbine in the $125,000 Shepperton Stakes. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired runners has lured a good field that also includes the 2008 Queen’s Plate winner, Not Bourbon, along with Grazettes Landing and Paso Doble.
Dancingall Theway spent last winter at Gulfstream before returning to the local scene, and was victorious in a six and a half-furlong optional claimer in his next-to-last outing on the Polytrack.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Interest in the Haskell Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park translated into strong business numbers across the board, most notably a record $4,463,736 being bet on the Haskell itself, a race that was won in impressive fashion by Lookin At Lucky against a field that included Super Saver, the Kentucky Derby winner, and Trappe Shot.
Midtown Bullet could go either way when he steps up in class in a second-level allowance race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature race at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses, but if Midtown Bullet runs as well as he did when he won a first-level race by over seven lengths on July 7, the rest are running for second money.
Trained by Twylla Bensmiller, Midtown Bullet is a perfect candidate to bounce, however.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Free Fee Lady has come a long way in a short time.
After debuting here May 22, Free Fee Lady recorded her second consecutive stakes win when making her fourth career start here in Sunday’s $250,800 Wonder Where, a 1 1/4-mile turf race.
“I didn’t think it was her best race,” said Reade Baker, who trains Free Fee Lady for owner Dick Bonnycastle’s Harlequin Ranches.
This weekend’s two stakes at the Sonoma County Fair, the Wine Country Debutante for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday and the Joseph Grace on the turf for older horses on Sunday, attracted 14 and 11 nominees, respectively.
Perfect Curls, winner of Northern California’s only 2-year-old stakes for fillies, and Belleofthebridle, runner-up in the Willard Proctor at Hollywood and third in the Landaluce there, are the top nominees for the Debutante.
NOTEBOOK
By Steve Andersen
DEL MAR, Calif.-Zenyatta is likely to have six rivals in the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday, if the undefeated two-time champion starts in the Grade 1 race.
While trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss have yet to commit Zenyatta to the Grade 1 Hirsch, Shirreffs has mapped out a schedule for Zenyatta to be ready for the race.
Dance to the Star relished the move back to two turns Sunday, when he rolled to a 4 3/4-length win in the $36,750 Mount Elbert Handicap at Arapahoe Park. It was the first route start for the horse since last summer, when he won the Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association Derby.
The Mount Elbert, a 1 1/16-mile race, was restricted to 3-year-olds and up bred in Colorado.
Fullofenergy overcame a two-month layoff to win the $50,000 Land of Enchantment for the fourth consecutive year Sunday at Ruidoso Downs. The 7 1/2-furlong stakes was part of the Zia Racing Festival of 10 New Mexico-bred stakes for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. Purses for the races totaled more than $1.1 million.