ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Malcolm Pierce usually enjoys his winters in New Orleans, but he won't have fond memories of the recent Fair Grounds meeting.
"Cold, wet, off the turf," he said. "I think we are going to come back with some horses who are going to benefit from winter training. But obviously, we didn't get a whole lot accomplished that we wanted to."
Misremembered, the winner of the Santa Anita Handicap last month, will be pointed for a two- or three-race campaign in the second half of the year, trainer Bob Baffert said on Thursday.
Misremembered has been based at Churchill Downs recently, but will be sent back to California. Baffert hopes to have Misremembered ready by the end of Del Mar in early September, with the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7.
"I'm pointing him for the Breeders' Cup," Baffert said. "I don't want to run him too many times."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Taro should win her first start in 10 months in Saturday's $70,000 Warren's Thoroughbred Stakes at Hollywood Park.
"If she doesn't, I'll be very disappointed," trainer Clifford Sise said on Thursday. "I think she's a very good filly."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The director of racing, Paul Ryneveld, was all smiles after closing entries for the first two days at Hastings on Wednesday. Ryneveld was planning on running eight races on each day. When an abundance of horses were entered, however, he added an extra race both days. A total of 153 horses made the overnight for the weekend and the shortest field is seven horses. That is a welcome relief to handicappers who have been fed a steady stream of short fields on the West Coast.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - There should be no shortage of early speed when a field of seven convenes for the $75,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes at Fonner Park on Saturday.
The meet's showcase event each year and the richest race run in Nebraska, the 1 1/16-mile Bosselman/Gus Fonner has attracted shippers Shadowbdancing and Calm and Collected. Both horses are confirmed front-runners and local runner Roaring Home should just add fuel to the fire on the front end.
WHO'S HOT
Gary Sciacca
Perhaps miffed about his omission from the last two editions of the New York Racing Association's media guide, Sciacca, a Brooklyn native who turned the big 5-0 in March, has celebrated with a 4-4-3 record from 24 starters at the spring meet, including three turf winners.
FINISHING HOT
Heading into the final week of the Keeneland meet, jockey Garrett Gomez held a four-win advantage over Julien Leparoux, with Robby Albarado and Kent Desormeaux tied for third with 11 wins each.
Gomez continued his hot-riding ways at the meet last week, winning nine races from 26 mounts to outpace Albarado and Leparoux, who won six races apiece.
WHO'S HOT
Favorites have won 36 of the 87 races at the meet, or 41 percent. Last year, they won at just under a 31-percent clip, one of the lowest rates in North America.
Trainer Brian Lynch and jockey Patrick Husbands teamed to go 2 for 2 during the week of April 16-18. They swept the late double last Sunday with two favorites, Platinum Exchange and Cambridge Blue.
WHO'S HOT
Martin Garcia got the final week of the Santa Anita meet off to a rousing start, booting home three winners. He has entrenched himself among the top 10 on the circuit, and with Garrett Gomez moving his tack to ride more back East, and stakes around the country liable to take the likes of Rafael Bejarano, Joel Rosario, and others away, Garcia may well take advantage at Hollywood. In other words, don't be surprised if he's a top-five rider in Inglewood.
There also were hat tricks Friday from both Martin Pedroza and Tyler Baze.