Kip Deville, who won last year's Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile and was the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Mile, is a finalist for 2008 horse of the year honors from the Oklahoma Thoroughbred Association. The organization will honor its Oklahoma-bred or Oklahoma-foaled 2008 divisional champions during a gala Saturday night at Remington Park.
"It's been our tradition we don't announce our winners until the banquet," said R.D. Logan, executive director of the OTA.
Bob Gorham widened his advantage in the Pinnacle Race Course trainer standings when he won four of the six races in which he was entered Tuesday, while employing all three of the top riders. Gorham, the leading trainer in last year's inaugural Pinnacle meet, has won 48 races through the first 35 days of racing here, 28 more than the competition.
Rogers Davis of Little Rock, Ark., beat out an Oaklawn-tournament record 173 horseplayers last weekend to win the track's qualifier for the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship. Davis put a lock on the Sunday contest when he had 32-1 shot Freddy the Cap in the eighth race at Saratoga.
Mistress Bell has been wowing them in the bushes, and it will be interesting to see if her form holds up when she faces tougher company in the feature race at Northlands Park on Friday.
The second-level allowance race for fillies and mares drew seven horses and goes as the seventh race.
Nursery Rhyme, shown winning at Arlington Park, has been sent to Prairie Meadows for Friday night's $50,000 Iowa State Fair Stakes. P
Two interesting shippers, Nursery Rhyme and Daguerreotype, will be in for Friday night's $50,000 Iowa State Fair Stakes. The race, contested at six furlongs, is Prairie Meadows's annual salute to the much anticipated state fair, which opened Thursday in Des Moines.
AUBURN, Wash. - Awesome Gem drew the number 7 post position and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite Wednesday for Sunday's Grade 3, $300,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
The co-highweight at 122 pounds, Awesome Gem will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze for trainer Craig Dollase. The Longacres Mile winner receives an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita as part of the Win and You're In program.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With big money being offered at Emerald Downs and Northlands Park in the next two weeks, horses based at Hastings are headed out of town.
Teide and Bank Emblem are both shipping to Seattle to run in the Grade 3, $300,000 Longacres Mile this Sunday. Texas Wildcatter was nominated to the Mile but the race overfilled, and with highweights preferred, he couldn't get into the field. Also going to Emerald to run in the Emerald Distaff on Sunday are Holy Nova and Blue Sky Holiday.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Saturday is appropriately called Prelude Day at Louisiana Downs. Not only will the winner of the $100,000 Prelude likely come back in next month's Grade 2, $750,000 Super Derby, the other three stake races Saturday are also expected to produce key players in the four turf stakes that are slated for the Super Derby undercard.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Okay, so Jonathan Sheppard lost a race at Arlington last weekend. Before Saturday, Sheppard had won the Chicago Handicap with Informed Decision and taken the Arlington Handicap with Just as Well with his only starters here this summer. But though Just as Well finished second in the Arlington Million, it had to feel like a defeat without too much sting.