INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The race that made Jack Disney a racing fan, eventually a publicist for the sport, and most recently a stakes-winning horse owner, was not the event that hooks most people into the world of Thoroughbreds.
Way back in 1962, when Bill Shoemaker rode Olden Times to a front-running win in the San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita, Disney, a 26-year-old sportswriter, watched in admiration with friends in a Los Angeles bar.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Slew's Tizzy was a 40-1 shot when he won the Grade 2 Lexington in his most recent out, but he will be a much shorter price on Saturday when he starts as the probable favorite in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Derby at Lone Star Park.
A field of 11 was projected for the 1o1/16-mile race as of Tuesday, with trainer Steve Asmussen planning to start three top contenders: Reporting for Duty, Forty Grams, and Takedown.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Patrick Biancone has made the Keeneland spring and fall meets his main objectives since shifting his primary base of operations to Kentucky. While Biancone has topped the Keeneland standings at each of the past two meets, he hasn't placed nearly as much emphasis on racing at Churchill Downs.
CHICAGO - There aren't perfect comparisons between the first short week of Arlington Park's 2006 and 2007 meets, but put it this way - Arlington chairman Dick Duchossois's face wore a broad smile Saturday afternoon.
Arlington drew a crowd of 10,561 fans for Friday's opening day, and 21,117 more on Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day, and enthusiasm from the people ran high. It was impossible not to notice the number of blanket finishes on Arlington's new Polytrack surface, and the crowds responded with an enthusiasm starkly absent from last year's troubled Arlington season.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Saskawea had been slated to make her season debut in a second-level allowance here at Woodbine.
But when that race did not fill, Saskawea's trainer, Steve Attard, ran her instead in Sunday's $150,000 Fury Stakes for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies.
Saskawea, benefiting from a favorable trip under Justin Stein, rallied to a 2 3/4-length victory in the seven-furlong Fury and stamped herself as a legitimate candidate for the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on June 10.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. Fourty Niners Son won at 1 1/2 miles on turf for the first time in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Handicap at Santa Anita on March 24, and the distance may turn out to be the ideal trip for the 6-year-old horse.
Fourty Niners Son will run 1 1/2 miles on turf again in the $250,000 Jim Murray Memorial Handicap at Hollywood Park on Saturday. Fourty Niners Son, owned and bred by Tom Baxter and trained by Neil Drysdale, may be favored in the Grade 2 Murray.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Having put the disappointment of going winless with five starters in Saturday's Kentucky Derby behind him, trainer Todd Pletcher went about the business of preparing the rest of his stable for future stakes assignments. That includes King of the Roxy, who will be Pletcher's lone starter in the May 19 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Starbird Road drew out to a 1 3/4-length victory in the $45,000 Seattle Handicap at Emerald Downs. Trained by Sharon Ross, Starbird Road got the six furlongs in 1:08.40 under regular rider Debbie Hoonan-Trujillo and paid $5 to win as the favorite. Wasserman, 26-1, got up for second by a head over Westsideclyde.
It was the fifth straight win for Starbird Road, who also won last year's renewal of the Seattle Handicap.
Key of Solomon relished the long distance of Turf Paradise's $50,000 Hasta La Vista Handicap as he powered home to bring down the curtain on the meet.
Trained by Neil Drysdale, Key of Solomon sat a few lengths off the early pace in the 1 7/8-mile turf event. He blew the race open with a strong run into the stretch to lead by three, and then held sway to win by 1 3/4 lengths over game closers In Joe's Honor and Sleepless Joy.
Ridden by Chris Landeros, Key of Solomon ($7.60) covered the distance in 3:15.36.
Saskawea stalked a three-horse speed battle in the $150,000 Fury at Woodbine, then took over for the victory in the seven-furlong dash for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies.
Saskawea ($25.20), ridden by Justin Stein for trainer Steve Attard, took charge at the eighth pole en route to a 2 3/4-length score in 1:24.59. Quiet Action rallied from far back for second, finishing three-quarters of a length ahead of Palace Pier, the 4-5 favorite.