After crushing first-level allowance rivals and fellow Pennsylvania-breds in her last two starts by a combined margin of 23 1/4 lengths, Cantrel will get tested by far tougher competition Saturday at Philadelphia Park.
The 3-year-old Cantrel will face three fillies who have been in the money against Grade 2 and Grade 3 stakes runners when she moves into open company for the $100,000 Jostle at 6 1/2 furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Cobrador and It's a Danzig shipped in together from Arlington for the June 3 Plate Trial at Woodbine and returned to their home base the following morning.
But Cobrador, who finished fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial, will be traveling solo when he returns for the $1 million Queen's Plate, a 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds here June 24.
It's a Danzig, who was a well-beaten seventh in the Trial, will stay home for now and concentrate on turf racing.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After a long campaign left their filly spent by the time fall arrived, the connections of Take D' Tour are taking a different approach to their mare's 2007 campaign.
In other words, they hope less means more.
When Take D' Tour seeks a repeat in Saturday's Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park it will be just her third start of 2007, and first since finishing second in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 7. When she won this race last year, Take D' Tour was making her fifth start of the year.
Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, La., will host a jockey competition next month to recognize the region's deep-rooted heritage of producing top riders.
Scheduled for July 12, the Cajun Jockey Challenge will be a four-race series made up of two sprints and two route races and will be based on a points system.
"We have already gotten commitments from Calvin Borel, Robby Albarado, Mark Guidry, Corey Lanerie, and Bryan Hernandez Jr.," said Evangeline's racing secretary, Jason Boulet.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. Del Mar has received more than 4,000 applications for the 2,000 available stalls for its upcoming summer meeting, according to director of racing Tom Robbins.
The strong response is the latest indication of interest in Del Mars program, which offers the highest purses in California, and of the tracks meeting from July 18 to Sept. 5, which will be the first run on a synthetic track, Polytrack.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With 3 wins from 10 starts, trainer Shauna Ferguson is off to a strong start at the meet, and she appears to have a good one on her hands in Pretty Maid. A 3-year-old filly by Western Fame, Pretty Maid upset stakes winners Napa and Chelsey's Image in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race last Saturday. It was just her second start this year, and as well as facing winners for the first time, Pretty Maid had her first try going around three turns.
ELMONT, N.Y. - For the second straight day, there were no winning tickets in the pick six at Belmont Park, making for a carryover of $179,417 heading into Friday's card. First post Friday is 3 p.m., the first of six sunset racing cards to be held on Friday's for the remainder of the meet.
There was a $47,566 carryover entering Thursday's card and many tickets were eliminated when Snuff Box went gate to wire in the first leg, returning $38.40. Other winners included Bon Marie ($14.40), Debbie Got Even ($11.60), and Panicking Petunia ($48.80).
The Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) has established the Andrew Lakeman Assistance Fund to benefit the jockey who was seriously injured in a spill at Belmont Park on May 25. All proceeds from the fund will be used to offset Lakeman's medical expenses and ongoing care.
Breeders' Cup Saturday at Monmouth Park is headed for a sellout, based on the mail and on-line applications received by the June 6 deadline for the random-selection seat lottery.
"We felt the response was great," said Bill Knauf, Monmouth's vice president of marketing operations. "It looks like we are oversubscribed for the tickets allotted."
More than 4,600 online orders were received. Approximately 1,100 more arrived by mail for the 15,000 seats available for public sale. Each order application was limited to four tickets.