Jockey Russell Baze won a stakes at Fresno on Friday and Golden Gate Fields on Saturday, and said he's excited about both winners.
On Friday, 2-year-old Vicarino broke Two Out of Three's two-year-old Fresno track record, running six furlongs in 1:07.34, to win the Harvest Festival Futurity by 11 lengths.
"Once he got his feet under him, it was over," Baze said. "I really asked him for only an eighth of a mile, from the quarter pole to the eighth pole, then I was just gearing him down."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Chris Block said Monday that no decision has been made on the Breeders' Cup status of Vacare, the 3-year-old filly who stayed unbeaten by winning the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday at Keeneland.
"We're going to evaluate her this week and hopefully have a decision by the end of the week," said Block. "She ran awfully hard, but obviously she ran awfully big, too."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The 46-day fall meeting that begins Wednesday will provide a historic chapter for Bay Meadows, a track whose future still remains in doubt. As of Monday, Russell Baze was 46 victories from surpassing Laffit Pincay Jr.'s world record of 9,530 victories. At his current rate, Baze should be the world's leading rider by the time the meet ends on Dec. 18.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The European contingent checked in at Woodbine late Sunday afternoon with four runners slated for the Canadian International, one for the E.P. Taylor, and two for the Nearctic here at Woodbine on Sunday.
The Grade 1, $2 million Canadian International, a turf race for 3-year-olds and up, is expected to attract a field of 10, with Better Talk Now, a candidate for both the International and the Breeders' Cup Turf, still on the fence as of Monday morning.
The Europeans in the Canadian International are:
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bordonaro, the winner of the Grade 1 Ancient Title Breeders' Cup Stakes and two other stakes this year, is expected to be supplemented to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, trainer Bill Spawr said over the weekend.
Spawr and owners Fred Carrillo and Daniel Cassella had hesitated to commit Bordonaro to the Sprint after the Ancient Title at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting, citing concerns about the four-week gap between races. But Spawr said the 5-year-old Bordonaro has trained well in the week since his win.
CHICAGO - At the beginning of the Arlington Park meet, back in May, Best of Buddies tried - and failed - three times to win an entry-level Illinois-bred allowance race. His rapid progression from that point in time to Saturday, when he upset the Hawthorne Derby, can be traced chiefly to one factor - grass. Best of Buddies has decent form on dirt, but on turf he has yet to lose, his four-race winning skein capped off by a narrow victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 race.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Richard Schosberg believes the seven furlongs of Wednesday's second-level allowance race for New York-bred fillies is just right for his 3-year-old filly Towering Escape. Therefore, he is not concerned about what surface the race is run on.
Scheduled for Belmont Park's Widener Turf Course, Wednesday's nominal feature could be transferred to the main track should the weather forecast prove correct. Rain is predicted for Tuesday into Wednesday morning, putting all three of Wednesday's scheduled grass races in jeopardy of being switched to the main track.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Leonnatus Anteas was facing a dramatic change in circumstances in Sunday's Cup and Saucer here at Woodbine.
But Leonnatus Anteas, who is trained by Kevin Attard for Knob Hill Stable and the estate of Steve Stavro, was able to rise to the occasion with a 2 3/4-length victory under regular rider Jono Jones.
Winner of the five-furlong Vandal in his only previous start over the inner track here Aug. 13, Leonnatus Anteas was being asked to travel 1o1/16 miles on a yielding turf course in the Cup and Saucer.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The lack of a stakes race Wednesday at Keeneland might lead a racing fan to infer that the nine-race program will be subpar, but to each his own. The nominal feature is a mere first-level allowance, but because it drew an overflow field and will be run at the thrice-around distance of 1 1/2 miles on the turf, some fans might say another fun afternoon is on tap.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Certainly Regal has spent the season in the shadow of her more illustrious stakes-winning stablemates Braetta and Banjo Babe, but gets a chance to shine in Wednesday's featured seventh race here at Northlands Park.
The $25,500 allowance at 1 1/16 miles is for fillies and mares who have not won a sweepstakes in 2006, and Certainly Regal is a big threat to go wire to wire in the field of six. Certainly Regal drew the rail with her regular rider Desmond Bryan up.