ALBANY, Calif. - Sunday's $150,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields will give trainers Jerry Hollendorfer, Craig Dollase, and Bob Baffert a measuring stick for their 3-year-olds.
Hollendorfer trains three of the six in the race: Bwana Bull, Double Action, and Candy's Bro. Baffert trains Chief's Magic and Craig Dollase trains Boutrous. Alex Paszkeicz sends out the longshot Cover Magic.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Ex Mountain Cop, who won four straight stakes at the current Portland Meadows meeting before shipping to northern California late last year, was injured in a workout at Golden Gate and will be out of action indefinitely, according to trainer Jonathan Nance.
"He broke a sesamoid," said Nance, referring to one of two small bones located above and at the back of the fetlock joint. "I understand it was a bad break, and there is a question of whether he will be able to race again."
There's no secret about Stealth Cat's ascent at Sunland Park. Stealth Cat comes off two smashing wins for trainer Steve Asmussen and goes into Sunday's $50,000 El Paso Times Handicap as the filly to beat.
The water gets considerably deeper, however, as Southern California invader Berriestoheaven comes into town for the 6 1/2-furlong stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Despite the presence of those two standouts, the race lured a field of 11.
Phil Sims said he stopped counting after 63. That's how many phone calls he fielded from people saying they were interested in buying his stable star, Joe Got Even, a 3-year-old who figures to be the favorite next Saturday in the WEBN Stakes at Turfway Park.
"Obviously, there's been a whole lot of interest in the colt," said Sims.
AUBURN, Wash. - The purse for the Grade 3 Longacres Mile has been boosted to $300,000. It will be run for the 72nd time on Aug. 19 at Emerald Downs.
The Longacres Mile, which has carried a purse of $250,000 in recent years, is the highlight of Emerald's season, which will run 91 days, from April 20 through Sept. 30. The Mile is the richest of 35 stakes worth $2,215,000 to be contested at the 2007 stand.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia The Grade 3 British Columbia Derby, the highlight of the Hastings stakes schedule, will include money from the Breeders Cup this year. Renamed the British Columbia Breeders Cup Derby, the race will offer the same $250,000 purse as last year, but will include $50,000 from the Breeders Cup when it is run Sept. 23.
Last fall Hastings announced a 20 percent cut in purses, which will remain in place this year. The total money available for stakes races this year, $2,560,000, is in line with the reductions made to the overall purse fund.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Stevie Wonderboy, the champion 2-year-old male of 2005, has returned to training at Hollywood Park after undergoing surgery in November to have a bone chip removed from his right front ankle, trainer Doug O'Neill said Thursday.
While Stevie Wonder-boy has not started in more than a year, O'Neill is hopeful that the 4-year-old will return to racing in the spring.
"This is not over," he said. "We'll miss the first quarter of the year, but he looks fantastic. He'll tack-walk for a few weeks and then he'll start jogging."
Texas Voyager will represent Florida-breds in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, but he embodies California. California speed, that is. His wickedly fast debut, in which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 103, makes Texas Voyager the likely favorite in the six-furlong race for 3-year-old males.
Ever since she was switched to the turf last summer, it has been difficult to catch Bayou's Lassie. Four times in five starts, she has finished first, and the other time she was caught late and finished second. She will be seeking the richest prize of her career on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf, where she once again looms as both the one to catch and the one to beat.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It is easy to forget, but nearly three months ago Lava Man was on the verge of a Horse of the Year title.
If he had won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in early November against an all-star cast that included the eventual champions Invasor and Bernardini, Lava Man's unbeaten season would have merited that coveted title. Instead, Lava Man finished seventh.