OCEANPORT, N.J. - Atomic Rain will run in the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational after all.
Atomic Rain, who was sold to Godolphin earlier this week, changed hands Friday morning as trainer Kelly Breen walked the colt three barns down, delivering him to Kiaran McLaughlin's Monmouth Park division.
Although he will be housed in McLaughlin's barn, Atomic Rain will be trained by Rachel Dore, previously an assistant to Godolphin Racing's Rick Mettee in New York.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Gloria Goodbody wants to run - now.
"She doesn't like a lot of time between races," trainer and co-owner John Glenney said.
After Gloria Goodbody finished second in the Grade 3 Locust Grove Handicap at Churchill Downs on July 5, Glenney made plans for a start in Sunday's $85,000 Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar. The restricted race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf will be Gloria Goodbody's seventh start this year in a campaign that began at Fair Grounds on March 1. Gloria Goodbody has won 2 of 6 starts in 2009.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - In an effort to create a regional rivalry between Emerald Downs in Seattle and Hastings here in Vancouver, the Pacific Challenge was created this year. The Challenge consists of three stakes races for older horses bred in Washington or British Columbia: the B.C. Cup Classic, Distaff, and Sprint. The Challenge will be part of B.C. Cup Day, Aug. 3. In total there will be seven stakes, with the other four stakes restricted to B.C.-breds.
AUBURN, Wash. - The phone started ringing shortly after Sweet Nellie Brown's rollicking debut, and by the following morning, June 14, bidders from across the nation were lining up with offers for the 2-year-old filly. Word of a 17-length victory in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race travels fast.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Sunday's eight-race card at the Fort will be highlighted by the $28,750 Don Valliere Memorial Cup, a six-furlong dash for horses who have started two or more times here in 2009.
Eleven runners will go to post and the combination of route runners cutting back to six furlongs and sprinters mixing it up should make this dash an entertaining event.
Great Addiction, a 7-year-old gelding with a bankroll of over $335,000, and Judiths Wild Rush, an 8-year-old millionaire, are two recent routers who will give the sprint types a run for the money.
Tiz Late will try to remain unbeaten on the year and undefeated at Presque Isle Downs on Sunday in the $100,000 Leeward Stakes.
The 4-year-old gelding has made only two starts this year, something trainer Michael Trombetta said is by design. He is 3 for 3 at Presque Isle.
"He definitely has an affinity for this track," Trombetta said. "He ran a big race last year and we could see that his numbers jumped up when he ran over this surface. They jumped up like 20 percent. We tried him on the grass and then decided to lay him up and wait for this meet."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Even though Cobotown Ron had won the allowance prep, his trainer, Analisa Delmas, resisted the temptation to bring her stable star back in Sunday's $300,000 Nijinsky.
"The timing was the main thing," said Delmas, noting that the 1 1/4-mile Nijinsky prep had fallen just two weeks before the main event. "I also figured it would come up very tough, and it did."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Before there was Rachel Alexandra, there was Stardom Bound.
Last year's champion 2-year-old filly, Stardom Bound won the first two starts of her 3-year-old season - both Grade 1 races - and appeared headed for a showdown with Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks. But then Stardom Bound finished third in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland in April - ending a five-race winning streak - and emerged from that race "completely wiped out," according to trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.
