Rule by Force looks to firmly establish himself as the king of Yavapai Downs when he heads Saturdays $21,000 Yavapai Downs Thoroughbred Derby. The 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds lured a field of nine. Rule by Force has, as expected, been pegged the favorite on the morning line at 9-5.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan Saskatchewan-born runners take center stage at Marquis Downs on Saturday with four $20,000 Heritage stakes races. There are two races for each gender at ages 2 and 3, and the Shortgrass Heritage for 3-year-old colts and geldings looks like the race of the day.
Run at a mile, the Shortgrass features last years provincial 2-year-old champion, Brilliant Action, facing off against Chief Shaheen, the recent 3-year-old Sales Stakes winner.
EDMONTON, Alberta Rock Creek Bobby, a stylish winner of his debut here Aug. 3, heads the 2-year-old colts and geldings division of the Sales Stakes at Northlands Park on Saturday afternoon. Both divisions of the $60,000 Sales Stakes, with the other being for 2-year-old fillies, drew fields of eight and will be run over 6 1/2 furlongs.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Peaceful Turzia should appreciate the drop into a claiming race in Saturdays seventh race at Hastings and he wont mind the move back to a sprint after going unplaced in two tries versus tougher at 1 1/16 miles. If he returns to the form that saw him win the $50,000 Jim Coleman Province on May 18 hell be tough to handle in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds running for a top claiming price of $35,000, which attracted nine horses.
Mount fees paid to jockeys at Fairmount Park have been increased by $10, from $45 to $55, in races at the downstate Illinois tracks with purses of less than $10,000. As part of the new fee scale, third-place finishers in such races will receive $60, up from $55.
Attendance at the current Del Mar meeting is even with last year as of Sunday's 23nd day of the 43-day meeting, but handle figures have not kept pace amidst a shaky economy, according to the track's executive vice-president, Craig Fravel.
Fravel said on Wednesday that ontrack attendance was up less than 1 percent, but that all-sources handle, including ontrack and offtrack sources and account wagering, was down 5 percent from the comparable period in 2007.
Doug Bredar, who has more than 20 years experience as a racing official, has been named racing secretary at Gulfstream Park. The 2009 Gulfstream meet opens on Jan. 3.
Bredar, 46, is currently serving as racing secretary at Louisiana Downs and will honor his commitment to finish that meet, which closes on Oct. 18.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Mani Bhavan transferred her brilliant speed from Delaware Park to Saratoga on Wednesday, leading virtually every step of the way to take the Grade 2, $150,000 Adirondack Stakes by seven lengths.
Breaking from the outside post in an eight-horse field under Alan Garcia, Mani Bhavan jumped out to a one-length lead by running a quarter-mile in 22.36 seconds, then kept on cruising through fractions of 46.10 seconds and 1:11.15 before covering the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18.09. She returned $19.40
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sweet Vendetta was able to avoid the heavyweights of the 3-year-old filly division when she ran and won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico in May.
In Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, when Sweet Vendetta is scheduled to make her first start since the Black-Eyed Susan, she should find out exactly where she stands among the elite in the division, as her rivals will include dual Grade 1 winner Music Note and Grade 1 winners Proud Spell and Little Belle. Mushka, a Grade 2 winner, is also expected in what figures to be a five-horse field.
With only three weeks left in the River Downs meet, attention is now being focused on the highlight of the meet on Sept. 1, the $200,000 Miller Lite Cradle Stakes, the longest continuously sponsored race in North America.
Last Saturday was the Cradle Prep, a $25,000 turf allowance for 2-year-olds going a mile, a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Cradle. Longshot Chilliness lit up the tote board, returning $111.40.