ELMONT, N.Y. - If things go as well the next two Saturdays for WinStar Farm as they went last Saturday, its management team could have an interesting decision to make come Belmont Stakes time.
WinStar owns Super Saver, who last Saturday won the Kentucky Derby by 2 1/2 lengths and who on May 15 will attempt to win the Preakness and then come to Belmont Park for the June 5 Belmont Stakes with a chance to become Thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown winner since 1978.
Head to Toe, Ohio-bred champion 2-year-old male in 2006 after winning the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes and the Best of Ohio Juvenile Stakes, is currently the winningest horse in North America after romping to a 13-length victory in a starter allowance race last Saturday at Beulah Park, notching his seventh win from nine starts in 2010.
Bred by 2006 champion Ohio owner Elisabeth H. Alexander, Head to Toe has earned $175,160 while posting a record of 13 wins, 4 seconds, and 5 thirds from 37 lifetime starts.
Remington Park will run 18 trial races for the $1 million Heritage Place Quarter Horse Futurity on Friday and Saturday night, with the five fastest qualifiers from each program advancing to the May 29 finale. Each trial will be run over 350 yards, and each has a purse of $11,000.
There will be new leaders atop both the trainer and jockey standings when Fonner Park closes its 31-day run Saturday.
Jordan Olesiak has led the rider standings from early in the meet and has 43 wins, giving him an 11-win margin over second-place rider Luis Ranilla heading into the final two days of racing. Apprentice Ashley Dill ranks third, with 30 wins.
Chris Fackler, a late arrival to the jockey colony, picked up his second four-bagger of the season last Saturday and stands sixth in the standings. Last year, Fackler and Jesus Ponce shared the riding title at Fonner.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Crider is a stalker who could find himself in the garden spot Saturday in the Lone Star Derby. He was one of six horses entered in the Grade 3, $200,000 race that drew an ample amount of pace, led by two-time allowance winner Henshin Hero.
"He's up front sprinting, so I assume he'll be up front routing," trainer Bret Calhoun said of Henshin Hero.
Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year who incurred her second straight defeat when narrowly beaten by Unrivaled Belle in the La Troienne Stakes on the Oaks undercard, has resumed her normal training regimen at Churchill. Rachel Alexandra was schooled in the starting gate Wednesday just prior to the regularly scheduled harrow break before ensuing with a routine gallop under Dominic Terry.
Blame, winner of the signature race of the 2009 fall meet at Churchill, the Grade 2 Clark Handicap, continues to make progress toward his first start of the year, which will come on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico, where he is expected to be a solid favorite in the Grade 3 Schaefer Handicap. Blame breezed six furlongs Tuesday in 1:14.40 over the Polytrack surface at Keeneland.
"He'll work again Monday before we leave out on the plane with all the Preakness horses" on Wednesday, said Al Stall Jr., who trains Blame for breeder-owners Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.
Stay Put, winner of a second-level allowance route that served as the Derby Day opener, is possible for the June 5 Belmont Stakes, said trainer Steve Margolis.
"We'll see how everything shakes out from the Preakness and go from there," said Margolis. "The other option is the Northern Dancer here a week later, but first we'll take a long look at the Belmont. The horse looked pretty good winning the other day."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - General Quarters likely will be pointed to the Aug. 21 Arlington Million after making a sensational impression on grass, according to owner-trainer Tom McCarthy.
General Quarters outran Court Vision in a thrilling stretch drive to capture the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, the race that directly preceded the Kentucky Derby last Saturday at Churchill Downs and showcased the 4-year-old colt's grit and versatility.