Julio Felix, one of the top jockeys at Thistledown the last decade, is back here after a short hiatus and is just two victories shy of riding his 2,000th career winner.
Felix said he needed a change of scenery after his close friend and fellow rider Michael Rowland died in 2004 from injuries sustained in a spill at Turfway Park.
"After Michael died I lost something," Felix said. "Last year was tough, and I just wanted to get away."
Champion of Champions invitee Gold Medal Jess looks for his first win since the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Championship on Feb. 25 in Friday's $30,000 First Down Dash Handicap at Los Alamitos.
The half-length win in the Winter Championship earned Gold Medal Jess an invitation to the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 9. Since that win he has run fourth in both the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap and the MBNA America California Challenge Championship from five starts.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Areyoutalkintome was entered for Saturday's $150,000 California Cup Sprint at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting after failing to gain an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.
Areyoutalkintome was scheduled to be sent from Kentucky to California on Wednesday, according to trainer Doug O'Neill. Areyoutalkintome had stayed at Keeneland following a second in the Grade 3 Phoenix BC Stakes there on Oct. 7.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The four highest attendance marks in the 22 previous runnings of the Breeders' Cup have all come at Churchill Downs, but apparently that's not good enough for Breeders' Cup officials.
"We have set a goal to try to break the all-time attendance mark this year," said Damon Thayer, the vice president of event management for Breeders' Cup Ltd.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Steve Sherman is glad that Karens Kwik Wager is a racehorse and not a show horse.
"She's not the prettiest thing, but she has a lot of heart," said Sherman, who is handling his father Art's northern California operation while the elder Sherman prepares Siren Lure for the Breeders' Cup. "I'd rather have the heart. This isn't a beauty pageant."
Karens Kwik Wager drew the outside post against six rivals in Friday night's Bay Meadows feature, a $40,000 starter allowance at six furlongs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The four highest attendance marks in the 22 previous runnings of the Breeders' Cup have all come at Churchill Downs, but apparently that's not good enough for Breeders' Cup officials.
"We have set a goal to try to break the all-time attendance mark this year," said Damon Thayer, the vice president of event management for Breeders' Cup Ltd.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Babcock Lake, a talented 2-year-old colt, has trainer Jeff Bonde scratching his head.
In Thursday's Bay Meadows feature, Babcock Lake makes his first start since a disappointing effort in the $131,000 Barretts Juvenile on Sept. 17. He has four rivals in Thursday's six-furlong allowance race, including recent maiden winners Are You Positive, who graduated by seven lengths, and Candy's Bro, the runner-up to Babcock Lake in his debut.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After shipping to Belmont and Saratoga to win graded stakes with Hello Liberty and Wildcat Bettie B during the summer, trainer Larry Jones will be at Aqueduct on Thursday with yet another 3-year-old filly - Les Ry Leigh, who ships from Delaware Park to take on four rivals in the $65,000 My Flag Stakes.
The one-mile My Flag is restricted to 3-year-old fillies that have not won an open stakes. Les Ry Leigh carries 123 pounds, giving five pounds to Any Limit, Sugar Swirl, Khalila, and Altesse.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Prior to the running of last Saturday's Princess Elizabeth here at Woodbine, trainer Mark Frostad certainly wasn't thinking in terms of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Catch the Thrill.
But after watching her score impressively in the 1 1/16-mile Princess Elizabeth, and learning the next day that she had earned an eye-catching Beyer Speed Figure of 90, Frostad said he pre-entered Catch the Thrill in the Juvenile Fillies on Monday morning.