Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Nice mix of horses in Valliere Memorial

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.

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Tiz Late takes the next step in Leeward

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."

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Trainer looks to make splash in Breeders'

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."

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Saratoga 2008 winner's book

Results of each race from the 2008 Saratoga meet.

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Saratoga stats

Trainers, jockeys, post positions, and much more. Click the link below to download the 2009 Saratoga Players' Guide comprehensive stats.

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Stardom Bound targets Ladies' Classic

Benoit & Associates
Stardom Bound has resumed training with Richard Dutrow Jr. and is targeting this fall's Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic.

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.

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 00:00

Claiming Crown now part of mainstream

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Like any new venture, the Claiming Crown was a concept that drew blank stares and quizzical comments in its formative years. But as the series has matured, its coordinator, Nat Wess, has found horsemen and racing fans to be far more cognizant of its existence and purpose.

"I get very few people now saying, 'What's Claiming Crown?,' which I got a lot of in the early years," said Wess.

Thu, 07/23/2009 - 00:00

Frostad looking for rerun in Wonder Where

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Last year, trainer Mark Frostad sent out Northern Kraze to record her second career win in the $250,000 Wonder Where. On Saturday, Frostad is hoping for deja vu all over again when he fields one-time winner Forest Uproar for the Wonder Where, a 1 1 1/4-mile turf race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

While Northern Kraze had raced twice as a 2-year-old and was making the sixth start of her 2008 campaign in the Wonder Where, Forest Uproar did not debut until this June and has just two outings under her belt.

Thu, 07/23/2009 - 00:00

Rule change opens up Fleet Treat

Benoit & Associates
Afleet Eagle, winner of the Oceanside on opening day, will point for the Del Mar Derby.

DEL MAR, Calif. - A rule change enacted earlier this year allowing horses sired by California-based stallions to run in statebred races will have a profound effect on Saturday's $100,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar.

Two of the leading contenders in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies were foaled in other states, but are by stallions that stood in California: Century Park is a Florida-bred by General Meeting, while Dani Reese is a Kentucky-bred by High Demand.

Thu, 07/23/2009 - 00:00

Oaklawn Handicap purse seizure to be appealed

The connections of It's a Bird will appeal the Arkansas Racing Commission's decision to disqualify the horse from his win in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap after he tested positive for a banned anti-inflammatory.

Mike Meuser, an attorney representing both Edmund Gann, the owner of the horse, and Marty Wolfson, the trainer, said he was in the process of preparing an appeal that will be filed in circuit court in Little Rock, Ark.