VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It's not very surprising that Suva, who won the Fantasy Stakes last Saturday, and Ookashada, a game winner of the Ascot Graduation Breeders' Cup last Sunday, are both being turned out for the rest of the year.
They both wrapped up divisional honors with their wins, and with no stakes races scheduled for the final three weeks of racing at Hastings this year, most of the top horses on the grounds have either been sent home for the winter or shipped to other tracks.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Forceful Intention should be tough to catch in the feature race at Hastings Sunday. The 1 1/16-mile allowance race for 3-year-olds which have not won a stakes in 2006 drew five horses and goes as the third race.
Forceful Intention, who is trained by Michael Turner, fits the conditions of the race perfectly. He's coming off of two second-place finishes in stakes races, and in both the Richmond Derby Trial Sept. 3 and the Transac Derby Consolation Sept. 24 he held the lead heading into the stretch.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arch Hall ($3.90) overtook Rye on the Rocks at the sixteenth pole before drawing clear to capture the $125,400 Bunty Lawless Stakes at Woodbine Thursday.
Arch Hall awaited room on the far turn of the mile and 70-yard route, and closed strongly through the stretch to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths over Rye on the Rocks. Front-running Millfleet faded to finish third in the six-horse field of Ontario-sired runners.
With Patrick Husbands aboard, Arch Hall completed the distance in 1:43.61. He earned $75,000 for Melnyk Racing Stable and trainer Mark Casse.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arch Hall ($3.90) overtook Rye on the Rocks at the sixteenth pole before drawing clear to capture the $125,400 Bunty Lawless Stakes at Woodbine Thursday.
Arch Hall awaited room on the far turn of the mile and 70-yard route, and closed strongly through the stretch to prevail by a length and a half over Rye on the Rocks. Front-running Millfleet faded to finish third in the six-horse field of Ontario-sired runners.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Trainer Michael Matz and jockey Edgar Prado were back together in the winners circle at Churchill Downs for the first time since winning the May 6 Kentucky Derby with Barbaro when Sangrita drove to victory Thursday in the Grade 2, $170,250 .
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The goal that Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O'Neill set for Liquidity this fall has been reached. He is in a 2-year-old stakes on Saturday.
They had hoped Liquidity could start in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. They are settling for the $100,000 Real Quiet Stakes at Hollywood Park.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The launch of synthetic-track racing at Hollywood Park on Wednesday was favorably received by several of the circuit's riders, many of whom have drawn an early conclusion that the days of speed-crazy racing in Southern California may be over.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Call it the Poor Man's Cup. After last weekend's rain and wind forced the postponement of 17 of 18 races, Aqueduct will run a seven-race card Saturday on Breeders' Cup Day - including five graded handicap stakes.
The Grade 3, $100,000 Turnback The Alarm will be race 3, followed in order by the Grade 3, $150,000 Sport Page; the Grade 2, $150,000 Long Island; the Grade 2, $150,000 First Flight; and the Grade 3, $100,000 Knickerbocker, which concludes the card at 3:27 p.m.
As a Breeders' Cup venue, Churchill Downs has been kind to European invaders. They have racked up 7 victories in the five previous Cups held there with 3 seconds and 6 thirds. Among their winners are the high-profile names of Miesque and Arazi. Among their placed horses are the equally recognizable Hatoof, Swain, and Giant's Causeway.
Owner Harry Aleo and trainer Greg Gilchrist know where the Turf Paradise winner's circle is. They saw it here last December when they brought in the dazzling Lost in the Fog to win a stakes, and then last Saturday when Victorina easily won the Ahwatukee Express. It looks like they'll follow the path to the winner's circle again this Saturday when heavily favored Smokey Stover runs in the $40,000 Saguaro. The six-furlong event for 3-year-olds lured a field of 11.