LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After finishing second in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks, the sky was the limit for Ermine. But after two resounding losses and a minor injury, she faded into racing oblivion and wasn't even the favorite for a second-level allowance condition when she returned to action last week at Churchill Downs.
Suddenly, Ermine is back in the ballgame. A seven-length triumph in the eighth race Wednesday, a $44,680 allowance, has led Ronny Werner to begin thinking big things for her again.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Although he hasn't won since his career debut in April, when he scored a 15-length victory in Germany, Proudinsky has the most interesting credentials coming into Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Bay Meadows Derby at
1 1/8 miles on turf.
Eight 3-year-olds entered the Bay Meadows Derby, including two who are making their turf debut, two who are making their second turf start, and one who is making his third.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Breeders' Cup visitors still in town Sunday could probably do worse than take in yet another day of horse racing at Churchill Downs. Unlike the day after the Kentucky Derby, when a massive cleanup effort requires the track to go dark, Churchill has made a habit of conducting racing on the Sundays after the Breeders' Cup is held here.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Stretched thin by an autumn stakes glut, the depleted 2-year-old filly division wobbles into the $100,000 Sharp Cat Stakes on Sunday at Hollywood Park.
Only seven entered the Sharp Cat, which is the sixth stakes for juvenile fillies the past seven weeks in Southern California. It follows five stakes during the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita - the Oak Leaf, Cover Gal, Anoakia, Hidden Light, and Cal Cup Juvenile Fillies. They offered something for everyone - sprinters, California-breds, and turf fillies.
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.