SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With no standout among the group, a field of 12 was entered for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. One of the more intriguing members of the field is True Quality, whose victories in the Paumonok and General George handicaps in the winter established him as one of the higher-ranked sprinters on the East Coast before myriad issues took him off the radar screen.
A raging wildfire that has engulfed more than 140,000 acres continues to burn in the mountains to the north of Santa Anita Park.
The fire is primarily on the mountain range on the other side of the racetrack, above Pasadena, and has led to poor air quality and a build-up of ash in the neighborhoods surrounding the racetrack. The fire has threatened the historical Palomar Observatory and numerous television and radio transmitters visible from the racetrack.
Firefighting conditions were helped by slightly cooler temperatures and minimal wind on Wednesday.
Gerald Bennett was spending a rare moment Monday, relaxing with friends at Pinnacle Race Course. He had just watched Keynes win the first race at Thistledown when a friend suggested that he might be getting close to his 3,000th win. A phone call was made and Bennett was surprised to learn that Keynes was win number 3,005.
"One of my owners had checked before we came up to Pinnacle this year, and I was about 50 wins away," Bennett said. "But we've been so busy running everywhere that I just never checked on it again."
River Downs has only four days left in its 2009 meet. The track's two marquee races, the $100,000 Coca Cola Bassinet and $200,000 Bud Select Cradle, will both be contested this weekend. Ten were entered in Saturday's Bassinet, including the first three finishers in the prep, which was run Aug. 16. Four of the 10 are coming into the race off a maiden win, and Letter of the Law won the $75,000 Turf Starlet at Penn National Aug. 1.
With nominations now closed for the Grade 3 Masters, the highlight of the Presque Isle meet, stakes coordinator Jim Cornes is upbeat about how the race is coming together. The $400,000 Masters will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs over Presque Isle's Tapeta surface on Sept. 12.
"The free nominations are great for everybody involved," said Cornes. "I think it will be a very competitive race."
Both the jockey and trainer races are wide open as Columbus runs a four-day weekend to close out its meet.
Trainers Rick Bogdanovich and Mark Lemburg have been neck and neck through the season and are tied at nine wins each. Seven-time defending champion David Anderson and Kim Veerhusen are next with seven wins. The top 10 in the trainer standings are separated by just four wins.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Coaltown, Swaps, Round Table, Dr. Fager, and Spectacular Bid: No one is going to confuse any of the eight horses entered in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Washington Park Handicap with legendary past winners of the race. In fact, the 2009 crew can't even match up with the last three Washington Park victors - Lewis Michael, Suave, and Perfect Drift. But for anyone interested in an Arlington Park actually supporting an older-horse stakes division, at least there is a Washington Park in 2009.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Owner Glen Todd is hoping that throat surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis will help turn Texas Wildcatter around when he runs in the $50,000 S.W. Randall Plate on Monday. The Randall is one of five stakes on the Labor Day card. Texas Wildcatter had the surgery following a last-place finish in a one-mile allowance race at Emerald Downs on Aug. 16.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Daylight Express, who has been knocking them dead in Barbados, checked in last weekend with an eye toward the Sept. 20 Woodbine Mile.
A Virginia-bred 4-year-old colt who is owned by Lord Michael Taylor and trained by Robert Peirce, Daylight Express has won four of his five races over the Garrison Savannah turf course this year, with the latest a 3 1/2-length romp over about one mile under his regular rider, Andy Ward.
The streak began in the Barbados Gold Cup, one of the country's most prestigious races, on March 7.