ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soul Rebel, an eye-catching winner of his debut at Woodbine on Oct. 5, 2005, was scheduled to make his second start in the Sir Barton Stakes on Nov. 27, 2005, but was a late scratch.
"He'd only raced once, and raced real impressively, and I was probably being a little aggressive if we ran him," said John Charalambous, who trains Soul Rebel for the Kingfield Farm of owner and breeder Richard Day.
The wintry world of Turfway Park is Steve Elzey's, and everyone else just seems to live in it.
Elzey is the jockey agent who has dominated Turfway for years. Having represented such top riders as Willie Martinez, Rafael Bejarano, and Kris Prather during highly productive winters at Turfway, Elzey seemingly finds the right jockey to fit the brand of racing offered during the four-plus months of winter racing at Turfway.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arch Hall tries to win the Sir Barton Stakes for the third straight time on Sunday at Woodbine.
Arch Hall captured the 2004 Sir Barton when it was limited to Ontario-sired 3-year-olds. Last year, the 1 1/16-mile contest was opened up to include older runners, and he beat a good group, which included Barbeau Ruckus.
Arch Hall had a productive campaign last winter at Oaklawn before taking the Grade 3 Eclipse Stakes here in May. He tailed off in the summer, but won the Bunty Lawless Stakes in his second start off a layoff Nov. 2.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though he could only manage a third-place finish aboard favored Ed Miracle in Thursday's ninth race at Aqueduct, jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. still had reasons to feel like a winner. After a six-month experiment riding in Southern California, Arroyo was home.
"I feel great that I'm back - this is home," Arroyo said earlier in the day. "I liked California, it was a good experience, but there's nothing like home. After Puerto Rico this became my home, and I didn't really realize it till I left."
MIAMI - Trainer Christophe Clement said Naissance Royale was not fit when she finished fourth behind Dream Lady in Monmouth Park's Omnibus Stakes earlier this fall. But the Grade 1-placed Naissance Royale won't have any excuses when the pair cross paths again on Saturday in Calder's Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap.
The My Charmer is one of three $100,000 stakes on the undercard of Saturday's
Grand Slam I program. Two-year-olds will also be in the spotlight - colts and geldings in the What a Pleasure Stakes and fillies in the Three Ring.
PWrenice and Mystery Classic each come into Saturday night's Texas Champions Day program of eight statebred stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on significant rolls. Wrenice has won her last four starts by a sum of more than 34 lengths, and Mystery Classic his last five by more than 25.
Senor Amigo has used his blazing turn of foot to win two major Texas-bred stakes this year, and will be favored to win a third during Saturday night's $475,000 Texas Champions Day program at Sam Houston Race Park.
Senor Amigo looks like the controlling speed in the $100,000 Star of Texas, a 1 1/16-mile race that is the featured race among the eight divisional statebred stakes on the card. The program is the richest of the meet, and other horses of note on the card include Wrenice and Mystery Classic, who are both riding significant win streaks into separate stakes Saturday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Catch the Thrill failed to make it into the field for the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill, much to the dismay of trainer Mark Frostad. She will start Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes, her first race since her dazzling victory in the Oct. 21 Princess Elizabeth Stakes.
Catch the Thrill, a well-bred daughter of A.P. Indy, graduated in August in her second start, which came on the grass. She then finished seventh in the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes Sept. 10, and Frostad said she had several excuses.