New York Racing Association regulars James Bond and Bruce Levine have done exceptionally well when they have shipped horses to Finger Lakes this season. Collectively, the two trainers are 11 for 22, including a win by the Bond-trained Cool Paradigm in last weekend's Niagara Stakes.
Bond and Levine will send out prime contenders Zipperoo and Grand Refer in Sunday's $50,000 Ontario County, a six-furlong stakes restricted to 3-year-old New York-breds.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The rejuvenated 8-year-old Cool Selection will step up to stakes company Sunday at Woodbine in the $125,000 Bold Venture.
The 6 1/2-furlong Bold Venture drew just five others, probably because of the notion that the imposing Stradivinsky would be tough to beat. However, Stradivinsky wasn't entered due to an injury.
MIAMI - After his record-setting 2006 Tropical at Calder meeting, apprentice Jermaine Bridgmohan appeared to be on the verge of a huge 2007 campaign. But a frightening accident on opening day of the Gulfstream Park session, followed by a similarly ugly spill shortly after his comeback later in the meet, brought Bridgmohan's seemingly skyrocketing career to a halt during the opening half of the season.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Gyrovagi, a half-brother to multiple Grade 3 winner Bedanken, has come to hand over the second half of the Lone Star Park meet. He won his third straight race here on Thursday night, defeating a nice group of sprinters in an optional claiming race. Gyrovagi stalked the pace, then took command for a 1 3/4-length win under regular rider Quincy Hamilton.
"He put himself in good position and went on when he needed to," said his trainer, Donnie Von Hemel. "It was a good race."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainers Neil Drysdale and Michael Dickinson are no strangers to success with Woodbine ship-ins over the past decade.
And, with locally based Sky Conqueror and Jambalaya commanding most of the attention, the Drysdale and Dickinson invaders are coming in under the radar for Sunday's Grade 2, $700,000 Northern Dancer over 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Drysdale, whose Woodbine portfolio includes victories in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile with Becrux in 2006, Touch of the Blues in 2003, and Labeeb in 1998, will be represented by Obrigado in the Northern Dancer.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Ready's Image and The Roundhouse, two of trainer Todd Pletcher's early juvenile stars, completed preparations for next Thursday's Grade 2, $150,000 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga by putting in solid workouts Friday at Belmont Park.
Ready's Image, the 7 3/4-length winner of the Tremont Stakes, went four furlongs in 47.11 seconds, the fastest of 31 half-mile drills over the Belmont training track. The Roundhouse, an eye-catching last-to-first debut winner at Monmouth last month, went five furlongs in 1:02.14.
DEL MAR, Calif. - As of Sunday, jockey Joe Talamo is no longer a rookie.
The 17-year-old riding sensation lost his five-pound apprentice claim Saturday and will ride as a journeyman for the first time at Del Mar on Sunday.
Of course, Talamo is still the young man who won the riding title at Fair Grounds last winter, nearly won the riding title at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting this year, and scored two Grade 1 victories on the same program earlier this month. He is just no longer an apprentice.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - B.C. Cup Day, on Aug. 6, is fast approaching and with it comes fond memories for trainer Cindy Krasner. As well as looking back, Krasner is looking forward to running Bad Sneakers in the $50,000 B.C. Cup Stellar's Jay for 3-year-olds.
What brings a big smile to Krasner's face is remembering the exploits of Artic Son, a horse she trained that won the B.C. Cup Classic three years in a row beginning in 1997. Artic Son also holds the track record for 1 1/8 miles at Hastings, which he set in the 1998 Classic.
Silent Pleasure, Super Frolic, and Costa Rising, three of the region's top older horses, are all under consideration for next month's $200,000 Evangeline Mile Handicap, according to the horses' connections. The one-mile race will be run Aug. 11.
Silent Pleasure, trained by Howard Scarberry, won the $125,000 Tiznow Breeders' Cup at Louisiana Downs last weekend. Super Frolic was the runner-up in the Tiznow.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - At the beginning of the Arlington season, trainer Todd Pletcher, speaking about running a string in Chicago for the first time, said his stabling at Arlington meant he'd be a regular participant in stakes races here
this summer. And Pletcher was not merely blowing smoke.