Chiselled in Glory, stakes-placed at 400 yards, will stretch out to 550 yards against fellow 3-year-olds in the $20,000 Super Bowl Handicap on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.
Chiselled in Glory has made one start at Los Alamitos, a second-place finish in the 400-yard Corona Chick Handicap on Nov. 11. He then finished third in the Grade 3 AQRA Turf Paradise Futurity, also at 400 yards, as the odds-on favorite.
The 2007 class to be inducted into the Racehorse Hall of Fame at Ruidoso Downs will comprise Clarence Scharbauer Jr., a successful Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred owner; Danny Cardoza, a leading jockey turned trainer, Charles "Bubba" Cascio, a trainer of world champions; and Vandy's Flash, a world champion gelding.
They will be inducted during ceremonies on a June date to be announced.
ALBANY, Calif. - Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale sends the well-bred Startale north for a one-mile maiden race Friday at Golden Gate Fields. Startale is a 4-year-old gelding by Coronado's Quest, who won both the Grade 1 Haskell and Grade 1 Travers, and out of the stakes-placed Starlore, who earned $225,516. He's a half-brother to Quest, who won the Grade 2 Clark and was second in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Change Up, one of the top 3-year-old fillies wintering in New Orleans, has been sidelined with a bone chip in her right knee. The injury was detected last Friday, the day after Change Up had a five-furlong breeze, and Change Up already has undergone surgery in Kentucky to the remove the chip, co-owner Richard Klein said Tuesday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bettors clever enough to find the winner of the seventh-race feature on Thursday at Santa Anita will be paid generous odds.
A diverse field of eight older horses entered the third-level optional $80,000 claiming race at about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf, and a case can be made for every one.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It's a routine Thursday at Aqueduct in winter, but true racing fans will still find plenty to interest them.
Race 3 is a starter handicap restricted to those who ran for $14,000 in the last three years, but it may still take a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure to win. Golden Man, Lucky Gamble, and Sir Gallant have run 98 or better recently, and deep closer Letters rolled past $50,000 sprinters with a 96 two back.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Scott Lake, who earlier this week completed serving the second of two consecutive 30-day suspensions for medication violations, starts his first horse at the 2007 Gulfstream Park meet on Thursday. Lake's return coincides with the comeback of his multiple stakes-winning speedster Tacirring, who has not raced since finishing second to Bordonaro a year ago in the Sunshine Millions Sprint.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Commander Buck eagerly chowed down on a sweet potato with his lunch earlier this week, and the antioxidants in such a treat sure do agree with him. The picture of health for his first start of the year, Commander Buck is one of eight older horses who will meet in a competitive $100,000 optional claimer at Oaklawn Park on Thursday.
The 1 1/16-mile race should produce starters for the Grade 3, $100,000 Essex Handicap here Feb. 10. Others in the field are Absent Friend, Joey Carson, Sampson's Son, Go Now, Shaky Town, Silver, Haze, and Rotary.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Wayne Lukas said last month that Oaklawn Park's 3-year-old program was one reason he had sent his entire stable here this winter, and he wasted little time taking advantage of his opportunities during the track's three-day opening weekend. Lukas had starters in all nine 3-year-old races, and won three of them to take the early lead in the trainer standings.
ALBANY, Calif. - Jockey Russell Baze had to decide whether to go to Santa Anita with 4-year-old Smokey Stover for the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint or to Gulfstream Park in Florida with the 3-year-old Another Kris for the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash.
He chose Florida, where he will also ride Secret Scheme in the $300,000 Filly and Mare Sprint.
"At this point, you want to keep as many good 3-year-olds in your holster as possible," said Baze, who will return from Florida to ride Bwana Bull in Sunday's California Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
