LEXINGTON, Ky. - Unbeaten and unchallenged in three starts, Vacare might be the best 3-year-old turf filly to come out of Chicago in many years. So what does it say about the depth of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup when she figures to be something like 15-1, if not higher?
"A race like the Queen Elizabeth, you expect the best of the best," said Chris Block, the trainer of Vacare. "It's no surprise the race is so tough."
Cherokee's Boy, a winner of 19 races from 47 career starts, is the deserving 1-2 morning-line favorite in Saturday's $250,000 Maryland Million Classic, the highlight of Laurel Park's 12-race card restricted to horses sired by Maryland stallions.
Cherokee's Boy, who will retire after the Classic to stand at the Maryland Stallion Station, will face six rivals in the 1 3/16-mile race. Cherokee Boy's career earnings of $1,170,446 exceed the career earnings of all his opponents combined.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Krz n' Flashy will try to fill the void left in trainer Mike DePaulo's barn after the recent retirement of his popular three-quarter brother Krz Ruckus when he contests Saturday's $125,000 Bull Page Stakes at Woodbine.
Krz n' Flashy debuted in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special sprint for Ontario-sired 2-year-olds Sept. 3. Sent off at 22-1, he prevailed by a nose after battling on the lead, earning a 56 Beyer Speed Figure.
DePaulo said he was not encouraged by the way Krz n' Flashy trained prior to his first start.
Northern Scene and Dreamsandvisions are two of the top Texas-breds in training, and in their lone meeting they finished a half-length apart in a turf stakes in May. Saturday night, they should be just as difficult to separate in the $100,000 Texas Hall of Fame Stakes at Retama Park near San Antonio.
Both horses come into the 1 1/16-mile turf race off rare defeats. Both have had strong final works, and both have vanned in from Louisiana Downs. It was there that the two first met, with Northern Scene edging Dreamsandvisions in the $50,000 Barksdale.
Saint Shackleton, dead-heat winner of the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity, is the class of the $236,672 Hobbs America Futurity, and One Special Shade continues his comeback in the $119,758 Hobbs America Derby on Sunday afternoon at Zia Park.
Saint Shackleton caught Okey Dokey Fantasy in the final stride to share the win in the $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity. Since that June 11 race, he has finished second in three futurity trials. He bumped with Jess Kicken in their Hobbs America Futurity trial, and they finished second and third, respectively, and each qualified for the futurity.
Mr. Trieste is on another streak. Mr. Trieste, who won eight consecutive races from September 2004 to December 2005, will be looking for his third straight win on Saturday, when he cuts back to a sprint distance for the $60,000 Zia Express at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.
The 6 1/2-furlong race is a rare one-turn appearance for Mr. Trieste, whose victories during his last streak ranged in distance from 7 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. He has worked consecutive bullets at Zia for the turn back from 1 1/8 miles Saturday.
A year ago, Moores Bridge came back after many months off the bench in a six-furlong race here at Turf Paradise. With Glenn Corbett in the saddle, he dueled for the lead and drew off for a handy win. Well, Moores Bridge is looking for a little deja vu as he returns off a layoff in Saturday's $40,000 Caballos del Sol Handicap.
This will be a much tougher test than his victory here last year, which came in an optional claimer. This time he faces eight other talented sprinters in a stakes over six furlongs.
Behaving Badly has the qualifications to beat eight opponents in Saturday's Grade 3, $300,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland. Whether she can beat the track profile, that remains to be seen.
The front-running Behaving Badly, a winner of 9 of 12 starts and over $734,000, has won over four different racetracks, but is unraced over synthetic footing, and the Polytrack surface at Keeneland has favored late runners since the meet began last Friday. Through Wednesday, the early leader had scored in only 1 of 29 races over Polytrack.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - The highlight of the Michigan racing season, the Michigan Sire Stakes, will be run Saturday evening at Great Lakes Downs. Each of the six divisions in the series, which is for the progeny of Michigan stallions, has an estimated purse of $132,887.
Trainer Robert Gorham will saddle returning Michigan champions Weatherstorm, who is looking for his fifth straight stakes victory, and Rockem Sockem, who earned horse of the year honors last year for the second time.