HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Gary Hartlage has always been high on High Heels, and on Friday she rewarded his faith in her with a 6 3/4-length over 1-2 favorite Cotton Blossom in the Grade 2, $250,000 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park. She is now being pointed for the Kentucky Oaks.
The Fantasy opened the Racing Festival of the South, when at least one stakes a day is run at Oaklawn over the last six days of the meet. The season closes April 14.
Retama Park near San Antonio plans to seek a 32-date fall Thoroughbred meet for 2007 from the Texas Racing Commission after the board last month denied its request to race Thoroughbreds from January to March in 2008. The fall request is expected to be heard at the commission's next meeting, May 14.
Retama will apply for a meet that runs from Sept. 7 through Nov. 17, said Bryan Brown, chief executive officer of the track. He said Retama would ask to race three days a week, Thursday through Saturday. Purses will average more than $100,000 a day, said Brown.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Peter Walder has had another good winter at Gulfstream Park, notching his 12th victory of the session with Picture Frame in Friday's second race. And if all had gone according to plan, the Canadian-born horseman was going to try to carry that success over to Calder, where he was planning to relocate beginning with the opening of the 2007 meeting on April 25.
But earlier this week, Walder had a change of heart and instead will transfer his entire stable to Arlington Park when the Gulfstream session ends in two weeks.
ARCADIA, Calif. - After a few anxious moments in the paddock, Worldly made a successful U.S. debut in Friday's first race at Santa Anita. The victory left trainer Ben Cecil hopeful that the colt can win a turf stakes.
Worldly "froze up" when jockey Victor Espinoza climbed aboard in the paddock, Cecil said. After Espinoza dismounted and then remounted Worldly in a tunnel that leads to the racetrack, the 3-year-old gelding displayed no further erratic behavior.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Mike DePaulo is waiting for the phone to ring these days, hoping to hear good news regarding the outcome of the hearing on the 2006 Prince of Wales Stakes held by the Ontario Racing Commission last week.
Shillelagh Slew, trained by DePaulo for owner David James, finished second in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie on July 16 but was awarded the first prize of $300,000 after the stewards found first-place finisher Malakoff guilty of interference.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Larry Jones said Friday that Hard Spun will train at Churchill Downs on Sunday and Monday morning before having a serious workout there Tuesday with regular rider Mario Pino aboard. Jones said the work will determine whether Hard Spun runs in the Blue Grass Stakes next Saturday at Keeneland or simply trains up to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill on May 5.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Jim Cassidy has geared his stable to days such as Saturday at Santa Anita.
Cassidy has leading contenders in the day's two turf stakes, the $150,000 Arcadia Handicap over a mile and the $100,000 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, also over a mile. He does not have a starter in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby or $200,000 Potrero Grande Breeders' Cup Handicap for sprinters.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Their flirtation with the Triple Crown trail a year ago delayed the development of Latent Heat and Keyed Entry into two of the premier sprinters in the country. They square off for the first time Saturday in a sensational renewal of the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Lawyer Ron established himself as one of last year's top 3-year-olds with his win in the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. Saturday, he returns to the track, where he is undefeated, for the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap.