OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A new running style has led to newfound success for Smash 'Em Sammy this winter. Monday, the speedster-turned-closer will tackle his toughest challenge to date in the $65,000 Fred "Cappy" Capossela Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Aqueduct.
Smash 'Em Sammy, a New York-bred son of Rizzi, will take on Jimmy Winkfield Stakes winner Bill Place and four others in the six-furlong stakes race, the featured event on a nine-race Presidents' Day card.
NEW ORLEANS - Jamie Sanders had two horses entered in the $75,000 Mardi Gras Handicap Tuesday at Fair Grounds.
One of them, Teuflesberg, would have been a favorite in the 7 1/2-furlong grass race for 3-year-olds, but Sanders decided to run him Monday in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park instead.
"I was considering running him in the Mardi Gras Stakes right up to the point where I put him on the van this morning," Sanders said Saturday before the first race at Fair Grounds.
LAUREL, Md. - Kent Desormeaux and Edgar Prado will be back at their old stomping grounds Monday when the Grade 2 General George Breeders' Cup is run for the 32nd time, and Laurel Park horseplayers who watched both men develop into legendary riders on this circuit seem likely to give a nod to Prado.
Not that Desormeaux, already a Hall of Fame member, isn't the all-time favorite of many Maryland fans. But Prado has the mount on Silver Wagon, the solid favorite for the $300,000 General George, and everyone wants to align themselves with a winner.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Hard Spun has won all four of his starts on sheer talent. Now he's a more polished racehorse, said his trainer, Larry Jones, and the timing could not be better. Hard Spun will put his perfect record on the line Monday in the $250,000 Southwest Stakes, the first leg of the 3-year-old series at Oaklawn Park.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Horses do run 1 1/4 miles other than in the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
On Sunday, six older runners will go 1 1/4 miles in Bay Meadows's feature race, a $32,000 optional claimer.
Only two of the six have run this far before. Kickboard ran 1 3/8 miles in the Grade 3 Premiers Handicap at Hastings in Vancouver last fall. Pinkhair ran 1 1/2 miles in a turf try at Hollywood Park in 2005.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - All the speed will be to Hard Spun's inside Monday in the $250,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park. All of it. Hard Spun drew post 9 in a field of nine when entries were taken on Friday for the one-mile race for 3-year-olds.
Larry Jones, who trains Hard Spun, said the post is not ideal. Hard Spun has won all four of his starts on the front end, his latest in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds. Regular rider Mario Pino has the mount on the Southwest.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Rahys' Appeal, the talented New York-bred runner who has already made two cross-country trips this winter, appears to be headed on another road trip for her next start.
Trainer Tom Bush said Friday he plans to point Rahys' Appeal to the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 7. Rahys' Appeal comes off a third-place finish behind Sugar Shake in Saturday's Grade 1 Santa Maria at Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Devil House will be trying something new when she chases after her fifth straight win Sunday in the $50,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park. She is making her first start around two turns in the one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, which drew 10.
"I really think she can handle the two turns," said Terry Gestes, who trains Devil House, a daughter of Chester House, for William Stiritz.
NEW ORLEANS - Creative Miss is a winner of multiple Michigan-bred stakes at Great Lakes Downs, but because of a provision at Fair Grounds that doesn't count statebred races against eligibility in open-company races, she is eligible for a third-level grass allowance sprint Sunday at Fair Grounds.
Creative Miss, 5, has amassed $286,262 in earnings with 7 wins in 15 starts.
Owner Todd Wetton sent Creative Miss to Rebecca Maker's barn for the Fair Grounds meet.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - With all of the top New York-bred sprinters either out of town or on vacation, Sunday's $65,000 Hollie Hughes offers the second-tier statebreds a shot at stakes glory.
With that in mind, a field of 10 was entered in the six-furlong Hollie Hughes, led by Papua, who won this race three consecutive years, from 2003-05. He has switched barns twice since then, being claimed away from Mike Hushion for $50,000 by owner Paul Pompa and trainer Patrick Reynolds. With Reynolds in Florida for the winter, Pompa turned the horse over to Rene Araya.