Golden State Million runner-up Fighter on Fire tries to rebound from a troubled start in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby when he heads two trials to the Grade 1, $185,300 El Primero del Ano Derby on Friday night at Los Alamitos.
The top 10 qualifiers to the stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings qualify for the finals on April 11.
FLORENCE, Ky. - One need look no further than the Turfway Park morning line to see just how competitive the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes could turn out to be Saturday.
Seven of the 12 starters were listed at 8-1 or lower by track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, an obvious hint that nothing stands out and more than a few are in with a solid chance.
Halo Najib is a lukewarm 7-2 favorite in a Grade 2 race that serves as the lone major Kentucky Derby prep of the weekend.
CALGARY, Alberta - The doors of Stampede Park, thought to be permanently shuttered for Thoroughbred racing at the conclusion of the spring meet last June, will swing open for another campaign Friday evening, the 118th year of racing on the grounds.
A new facility in nearby Balzac had been scheduled to replace Stampede Park as a Thoroughbred venue, but when that project fell behind schedule, Stampede was enlisted to host a 2008 spring meeting in a one-year contract negotiated last July.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Time is in Obrigado's favor as the 5-year-old gelding nears his second start of 2008 in Saturday's $200,000 San Luis Rey Handicap at Santa Anita.
A year ago this month, Obrigado was fresh from a win in the Grade 2 San Luis Obispo Handicap at Santa Anita when he was sent to Dubai for the $5 million Sheema Classic on the Dubai World Cup undercard.
Ittakestwobaby, named for trainer David Anderson's twin grandsons Jonah and Jackson, gave the trainer his first stakes winner of the season last Saturday and established the 3-year-old as a top contender for divisional honors this year in Nebraska.
Ittakestwobaby is a Nebraska-bred son of Dazzling Falls and is the second foal to race and win for his dam, Rancho Gal. A homebred owned by Anderson, Ittakestwobaby won his maiden against stakes company in his career debut last year at Lincoln, taking the State Fair Futurity by a widening three lengths.
Philadelphia Park didn't quite succeed in luring Xchanger from Maryland to make his 4-year-old debut earlier this week, but only because the multiple stakes winner isn't quite ready to race.
Trainer Mark Shuman nominated Xchanger to the $75,000 Bensalem, a 6 1/2-furlong overnight stakes that was run Tuesday. Shuman reluctantly decided to wait for another spot, however.
"I liked this race because I do want to bring him back in a sprint, where he's 2 for 2 lifetime," Shuman said late last week, "but he's still about 30 days away from being ready to race."
Peppers Pride, a 5-year-old mare who is unbeaten in 14 starts, will try to take another step closer to history in Sunday's $100,000 Sydney Valentini Handicap at Sunland Park. The mile race, for New Mexico-bred fillies and mares 3 years old and up, drew a field of seven.
Peppers Pride, owned by Joseph Allen and trained by Joel Marr, hasn't raced since capturing the New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap here Dec.o16. That was by design, however, as Marr specifically said after that race that the Valentini was her next target.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The queen of the West Coast distaff division is officially on vacation, and with Nashoba's Key out of training for 60 days, the division is temporarily up for grabs. Trainer Carla Gaines and owner Warren Williamson have made no specific plans for Nashoba's Key other than to declare now as the time for a break after Nashoba's Key's victory March 9 in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap.
It was a pretty big deal back on Jan. 12 at Fair Grounds when Pyro posted his first official workout since returning to training following his second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. A week before that 51.80-second tune-up, Pyro had gone a half-mile in a time too slow to make the work tab, and his final work this year at Fair Grounds, done on Monday, was scarcely any faster. Pyro was timed in a pedestrian 53.20 seconds in his first breeze since winning the Louisiana Derby. Suffice it to say, the pro-tem leader of the 3-year-old division was not asked for his best.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Michael Matz has left the door open to the possibility that Visionaire, winner of the Gotham Stakes earlier this month, could have his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29.
Visionaire, an impressive allowance winner here earlier in the meet, rallied from last to catch Texas Wildcatter on the wire to capture the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct on March 8.