SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It's one thing to dominate the jockey standings at Aqueduct in the winter, when many of New York's premier riders migrate south to Gulfstream Park. It's another to dominate the jockey standings at Belmont Park, when those same riders return, vying for the same choice mounts.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With a little cooperation from Mother Nature - and Jess Jackson - this has the potential to be a sensational summer at Saratoga.
As the New York Racing Association prepares to open the gates Wednesday on the 141st season at the Spa - 36 days of racing through Labor Day, Sept. 7 - two of the biggest questions are what will the weather be and will Rachel Alexandra, the superstar filly owned by Jackson's Stonestreet Stable, run at the meet?
The answers do not come easily.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Eye of the Leopard, winner as the favorite in the Queen's Plate, and Gallant, upsetter in the Prince of Wales, head a list of 11 candidates for Sunday's $500,000 Breeders' Stakes.
The Breeders', a 1 1/2-mile turf race, follows Woodbine's 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate and Fort Erie's 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales as the final leg in the Triple Crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Colonel John and Well Armed are the two best horses in trainer Eoin Harty's barn. Both have been off for several months, but both are now ready to run. Harty nominated both to the Grade 2, $250,000 San Diego Handicap this Sunday at Del Mar, but didn't want to run them against one another.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Rahy's Attorney continues to amaze.
Winner of the Woodbine Mile and Canada's champion turf male in 2008, Rahy's Attorney is just a head away from being undefeated in three starts this season.
And, judging by his performance here at Woodbine in Sunday's Grade 2, $339,100 Nijinsky, Rahy's Attorney just may have taken his game to a new level.
Circumstances seemed to be conspiring against Rahy's Attorney, who was attempting to successfully negotiate a distance as far as 1 1/4 miles for the first time on a course that had been pounded by heavy rain.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There aren't many new faces among the training colony this summer at Saratoga, but some familiar and not-so-familiar names could be sitting on really big meets.
Here are five trainers you may know better come Labor Day.
Chad Brown
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - The Claiming Crown is not necessarily a big money-maker for Canterbury Park, but the annual seven-race series serves to legitimize the oft-overlooked track as the perennial host of a nationally recognized event. And by the time the 11th annual Claiming Crown was complete Saturday, it hardly could be argued that Canterbury has not achieved its goal.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park reported declines in average daily attendance and handle during its 65-date meet that closed Sunday.
Handle on Lone Star's races from all sources averaged $1,429,959 a day, down 12 percent from 2008. Attendance averaged 6,883 patrons a program, down 7 percent. The ontrack crowd accounted for an average $320,709 a day in handle on Lone Star's races, down 20 percent from a year ago. Offtrack, patrons wagered an average $1,109,250 a day on the live card, off 9 percent from 2008.
Preservata, never far back while trailing early in the field of five, dueled through the stretch to record her third straight Assiniboia Downs stakes score in Saturday night s $30,000 Winnipeg Sun.
Front-running Britannia Road gave the odds-on Preservata all she could handle but had to settle for second money, two lengths ahead of Talkin Moneyhoney.
Polynesian Kitty and At First Glance rounded out the order of finish in the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares.
Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird had his final workout for the $750,000 West Virginia Derby when breezing a half-mile Monday in 49.80 seconds over the Mountaineer Park surface in Chester, W.Va.
Trainer Chip Woolley told Mountaineer officials afterward that Mine That Bird "was really sharp."
"We got just about exactly what we wanted out of him," he said.
