MIAMI - With graded stakes opportunities around two turns for older horses on turf and dirt here at Calder on next Saturday's Festival of the Sun program, it was not surprising to see several horses nominated for both the Grade 3 Spend a Buck and Miami Mile handicaps. Among them is Mambo Meister, who is back home following his seventh-place finish behind the Breeders' Cup-bound My Pal Charlie in the Grade 2 Super Derby on Sept. 20.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sugar Bay, riding the crest of a four-race win streak, will be looking to put the icing on the cake when she makes her last start of the season in Saturday's $150,000 Carotene at Woodbine.
The Carotene, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies, attracted a field of eight and Sugar Bay will be odds-on.
Her most recent victory came in the La Lorgnette, an open stakes for 3-year-old fillies here Sept. 27.
ARCADIA, Calif. - John Shirreffs is not the sort of trainer to demand fast workouts from his horses. So when Zenyatta, his undefeated 4-year-old filly, worked six furlongs in 1:11.20 at Hollywood Park on Thursday, even Shirreffs took notice.
"We didn't expect her to go that fast," he said. "She worked very good. I think the track is pretty fast today."
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela picked up the 4,000th win of his career Thursday at Louisiana Downs, when he guided Burst of Light from last to first in the second race. She won the optional claimer by two lengths and paid $9.
"I got that monkey off my back," he said. "I'm very blessed."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The $100,000 Premiers on Sunday drew only six horses but it shapes up as the most interesting and important race at Hastings this year.
A win by either Krazy Koffee or Spaghetti Mouse will assure him the title of horse of the year in British Columbia at the annual industry awards dinner scheduled for Nov. 15.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Casino Drive, the undefeated 3-year-old colt from Japan, will start in an optional claimer at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a scheduled appearance in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic on Oct. 25.
Casino Drive is part of a seven-horse field in Sundays eighth race, which is run over 1 1/16 miles. The decision to start Casino Drive in the prep race, as opposed to training him up to the BC Classic, was made on Thursday, after Casino Drive breezed five furlongs in 1:02 at Hollywood Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario Contango and stakes-placed El Brujo are the obvious protagonists in Fridays Woodbine feature, a six-furlong first-level allowance for 2-year-olds.
When he debuted Aug. 22, Contango was a belated third to Bear Its True, who romped in his next start in an allowance at Presque Isle Downs.
Contango added Lasix for his second start and wound up setting moderate fractions before pulling away for a 7 3/4-length win over Montys Best, who came back to graduate with ease. Contangos six-furlong time of 1:10.40 translated into a 76 Beyer Speed Figure.
STICKNEY, Ill. At $250,000, the purse for the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby is somewhat surprisingly fat, when you consider that most really good grass horses, 3-year-old or otherwise, probably are pointing to the Breeders Cup. A Keeneland race this weekend in that division, the Grade 3 Bryan Station, offers a $150,000 purse, and last weekends Grade 2 Jamaica at Belmont, which had top-shelf runners Court Vision and Gio Ponti, also was worth $250,000.
LEXINGTON, Ky. The Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup is a Kentucky race named for an English monarch, but the 25th running Saturday at Keeneland will have a definite New York flavor to it.
Six of the 11 3-year-old fillies entered in the $500,000 QE II made their last start in New York, a circuit that has produced quite a few QE II champions, including the 2007 winner, Bit of Whimsy. Barclay Tagg, the trainer of Bit of Whimsy, will be back with another contender Saturday in My Princess Jess, who drew the outside post in the 1 1/8-mile turf fixture.