The stage is set for Saturday's Louisiana Legends Night at Evangeline Downs as exactly 100 Louisiana-breds were entered Wednesday morning for the 11-race program, which will be worth close to $1 million in purse money.
All age divisions and specialties will be represented - from the two divisions of the D.S. "Shine" Young Futurity for 2-year-olds at five furlongs to the 1 1/16-mile Attaway Darbonne for 3-year-olds and upward on the turf.
After years of riding at Thistledown during the day and Mountaineer Racetrack in the evening, Scott Spieth is happy to be able to ride solely at Presque Isle Downs, where he is second in the standings.
"I live in Cleveland with my wife and five kids, and it is so important to be home every night with them," he said. "Riding at Presque Isle allows me that luxury."
Spieth, 42, grew up on the family farm in Litchfield, Mich., where his entire family was involved with horses.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Go Go Shoot could bounce in the $75,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park and still coast to victory.
He was that dominant last time out, winning the Longfellow Stakes here on June 6 by 9 1/2 lengths. In his second start for trainer Bruce Levine, Go Go Shoot earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure, one of the top numbers run anywhere this year.
Sometimes horses will bounce, or regress, following a career-topping effort like that. Even if Go Go Shoot concedes points on the Beyer scale, he will still be hard to catch in this six-furlong race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Marchfield mowed down the front-running Approval Rating in deep stretch to take the Grade 3, $221,900 Dominion Day Stakes at Woodbine on Wednesday.
Approval Rating set tepid middle fractions in the 1 1/4-mile Polytrack event, as Marchfield trailed heading into the first turn. Marchfield lacked room at the three-eighths pole, and then commenced a strong rally at the quarter pole after getting clear.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The connections of Jonesboro will be paying close attention to the Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park on Saturday as they debate sending the winner of last weekend's Grade 2 Cornhusker to New York for the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Most horses shipped from the Southern Hemisphere to California are given about six months to acclimate before starting a racing campaign. Puttanesca, a starter in Sunday's $700,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park, is being given a week.
New Zealand trainer Wayne Hillis contends that a horse can be shipped from the Southern Hemisphere and race quickly in California without feeling the effects of travels.
"You've got time for one or two races and then you have to acclimate," he said.
Tres Passes, the star 2-year-old at Los Alamitos last fall, is ready for his 3-year-old debut. The problem is an absence of competition.
Trainer Blane Schvaneveldt entered Tres Passes for the $30,000 Vandy s Flash Handicap for 3-year-olds on Friday, but the race was not used because of insufficient entries.
ELMONT, N.Y. - When it became evident that Florida Derby winner Quality Road would not make the Triple Crown races, trainer Jimmy Jerkens had no choice but to look ahead to the second half of the year in the 3-year-old division. Though he is no longer the trainer of Quality Road, Jerkens may still have something to look forward to.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Sweet Briar Too, Wednesday's $100,000 supporting feature, lost two of its eight entrants when Authenicat and Remarkable Remy scratched in favor of other spots.
Authenicat, the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the seven-furlong Sweet Briar Too for fillies and mares, instead is heading to the Chicago Handicap at Arlington Park on Saturday.
The Chicago Handicap, also a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares, offers a purse of $150,000 and Grade 3 status.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Sidney Lejeune has always been thought of as a blue-collar rider, busy in the mornings during training hours and riding some horses that perhaps some of the higher-profile riders would not be as enthusiastic about. That willingness to work was as least one of the reasons that the 36-year-old Arkansas native underwent a recent career change.
