ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Ian Black holds a hot hand for Sunday's Belle Geste, which is one of two $100,000 overnight stakes on the program and attracted a field of 10 Ontario-foaled fillies and mares.
Black will send out Glitter Rox, who is owned by Elle Boje Farm and partners, and Prophetically, owned by Kinghaven Farm and partners, in the Belle Geste over seven furlongs on turf.
True Metropolitan, who has been voted Sovereign Awards as the best older horse in Canada the past two years, came out of the Longacres Mile with a foot injury, according to his trainer, Terry Jordan, and could be in jeopardy of missing the $100,000 Speed to Spare at Northlands Park on Sept. 6, a race he has won the past two years.
"He tore off half of his foot," said Jordan. "He lost a shoe during the race and it probably happened when the ground broke out from under him when he left the starting gate. It was a pretty gutsy performance considering how poorly he broke."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Eclipse Award champion Ginger Punch survived a frantic stretch battle and won a head bob with a game Lemon Drop Mom to post a nose decision in Friday's $400,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.
"To be honest, I thought I got beat," was Ginger Punch's trainer Bobby Frankel's initial reaction at the conclusion of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign. "She got the perfect bob. It was a very good race, and I'm glad we were able to come out on the right end."
Valid Message and Enjoy the Score came rolling from off the pace for clear victories in 2-year-old stakes earlier this month at Louisiana Downs, and each could return to action Sept. 20. Both are eyeing starts on the Super Derby undercard at Louisiana Downs, with Valid Message likely to start in the $150,000 Sunday Silence and Enjoy the Score possible for the $150,000 Happy Ticket.
Sultan's Prince gets a chance to show off Sunday when the winner of last year's Norman Hall Stakes returns to the Massachusetts-bred ranks in the $50,000 African Prince Stakes at Suffolk Downs.
A 3-year-old colt, Sultan's Prince was born to be a champion in Massachusetts. He's the fifth stakes winner from the pairing of sire Sundance Ridge and the mare Sultan's Light. He was even money to win the Norman Hall Stakes last November just like his brothers Stylish Sultan and Strongestsovereign did earlier this decade.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Two-year-olds? Todd Pletcher does that. Stakes races? Pletcher sends out scores in those each year, too. So, no surprise then, that the Pletcher string at Arlington Park will be well represented in the two stakes races for juveniles here next month.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Wanderin Boy may be owned by bluebloods, but he is as blue-collar a horse as they come.
In a 22-race career in which he has earned $1 million, Wanderin Boy has faced some of the elite horses in the game and given them everything they could handle. In Grade 1 stakes, he has finished second to champions Invasor, Lawyer Ron, and Bernardini.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Tim Hills briefly considered wheeling Open Skies back on short rest for the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks on Aug. 9.
"The race setup wasn't ideal and the timing, running back in one week, certainly wasn't ideal," Hills said.
Hills found a more favorable spot Sunday at Monmouth Park for the versatile New Jersey-bred in the $70,000 Miss Woodford Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
Open Skies has already shown she can effectively run long or short against open or statebred company on the turf or main track.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Jockey David Garcia has been riding up a storm since settling in at Fort Erie for this meet, and he has now moved to third place in the standings behind Chad Beckon and Rui Pimentel.
Garcia, 34, has been aboard 156 horses this meet and recorded 34 wins, an almost 22 percent win rate. He also sports a solid return on investment of $2.65, one of the leading figures at this border oval.
Garcia's agent, Jack Lauzon, is extremely pleased with the rider's performance and welcomes the many calls that have begun to head his way.
In recent years the Kentucky circuit has been a proving ground for Rafael Bejarano and Julien Leparoux, young riding standouts who have gone on to succeed at the highest levels of American racing.
Another such star might well be in the making: Victor Lebron has been dominating the Ellis Park meet, and some trainers believe he is primed for a step up in company.