ARCADIA, Calif. - River Savage earned a trip to the $250,000 Santa Maria Handicap on Feb. 10 after a front-running win in Friday's $79,100 Paseana Handicap at Santa Anita.
When she makes her Grade 1 debut in the Santa Maria over 1 1/16 miles, it is likely that jockey Omar Berrio will have her on the lead and well off the rail. River Savage cannot see well with her left eye and does not react well if a horse is along her inside, according to trainer A.C. Avila.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After watching Great Intentions get away with an opening half-mile in 48.07 seconds under Norberto Arroyo Jr. in Saturday's Affectionately Handicap, trainer Mike Hushion knew that the success or failure of this two-turn experiment would rest solely with him.
"At that point I kind of said to myself 'I can't blame it on the jock from here, I guess it's on my shoulders the last half,' " Hushion said.
ALBANY, Calif. - Summer Event makes her debut going a mile in a maiden race for 3-year-old fillies Monday at Golden Gate Fields.
There's a reason Summer Event isn't starting her career in a sprint.
"She has no speed," trainer Steve Sherman said. "She's just a big, long-striding individual."
Sherman handles the northern California string for his father, Art, and helped the barn win at a 25-percent clip last year. The Shermans enjoy good success with debut runners, but tried only two around two turns last year.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Del Mar has begun the installation of a synthetic surface for its 2007 meeting, a construction project that is expected to be completed by April.
According to director of racing Tom Robbins, the Polytrack synthetic material is being mixed on the backstretch and will be installed in early March. Until then, construction workers are removing rails and chain-link fences surrounding the existing track. In February, the existing main track will be removed and a drainage system and base for the synthetic surface will be installed.
NEW ORLEANS - Royal Copenhagen may finally get her preferred surface in Sunday's feature race at Fair Grounds, a third-level allowance for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.
Royal Copenhagen has been entered twice in Fair Grounds turf races this meet that have been switched to the main track, but with only a slight chance of rain in the forecast, Sunday's feature should stay on the grass.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For nearly a decade, there was much more to trainer H. James Bond than the fact he shared a name with a popular fictional British secret agent.
As the conditioner of Grade 1 winners such as Behrens, Will's Way, Buddha, and Mongoose, Bond was a player in many of Thoroughbred racing's premier events.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Defer, who had been considered a Kentucky Derby hopeful when stabled in south Florida during the winter of 2005, now appears destined to spend the remainder of his career on turf, beginning with Sunday's $49,500 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Charlie's Pride, the winner of last season's Portland Meadows Mile, will race for the first time in nearly eight months on Sunday when he takes on Lethal Grande and others in a six-furlong invitational handicap with a purse of $7,800.
NEW ORLEANS Steve Asmussen was all smiles Thursday afternoon after his longtime assistant Scott Blasi won the feature race at Fair Grounds with Wild As Elle. It was Asmussens first day at the races since July 10 when he began serving a six-month suspension for medication violations. He chatted with jockey Donnie Meche in the paddock before the race, but stayed out of the winners circle.