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.
Four of the seven older sprinters who contested the Vincent Moscarelli Memorial a month ago are back together at Delaware Park for Saturday's Hockessin Stakes. Since the winner of the $100,000 Moscarelli, Celtic Innis, isn't among them, the $54,000 Hockessin at six furlongs is bound to produce a different outcome.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It is commonplace this time of year for some of the best horses in France and England to come to New York to compete in the prestigious stakes events conducted at Belmont Park.
It is not as common for horses based in Scotland to make the transatlantic journey to New York. But on Saturday, the Scotland-based Big Timer will compete against some of North America's top 2-year-olds in the Grade 1, $400,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The last two seasons have not been kind to Request for Parole. The Grade 1 winner has only one victory in his last 11 races.
The 7-year-old, making his first start since June, gets back in the game Friday night in the $60,000 John Henry Stakes at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The John Henry at 1 3-8 miles and the $55,000 P.G. Johnson for 3-year-old fillies at five furlongs are the supporting turf stakes on the Meadowlands Breeders' Cup Stakes undercard.
Patrick Biancone got a lot of work done toward what he hopes will be a huge Saturday at Keeneland when he sent out several of his top horses, most notably Gorella, for serious workouts Wednesday morning over a Polytrack surface dampened by rain.
Gorella's half-mile breeze was her final workout before she runs on the turf as the favorite in the Grade 2 First Lady, an exceptionally deep race that will share the Saturday spotlight at Keeneland with the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
Woodbines Grey Breeders Cup Stakes has produced one winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile, Macho Uno, who won the Grey in 2000 before going on to win the Juvenile at Churchill Downs.
Wando (2002), Cash Deposit (1996), Talkin Man (1994), and Regal Classic (1987) also won the Grey and went on to compete in the BC Juvenile, with Regal Classic faring the best with a second-place finish.
Trainer Jonas Gibson is having a breakout meet at Louisiana Downs. He won with three straight starters last weekend and will send out his best filly, Miss Parisian Mist, in the featured race here Friday. A six-furlong optional claimer, the race drew 10, including stakes winners Destiny Calls, Follow the Lite, and Hottamolly.
A $16,392 pick six carryover adds a little spice to Golden Gate Fields's Friday afternoon card, which begins the final weekend of the meet.
While not big enough to attract national attention, the carryover provides local players with an incentive. The races are deep and competitive and should provide quite a handicapping challenge. There is a likelihood for a carryover to Saturday's card.
Bella Banissa's biggest problem may be her own quickness. Several times in her career, the filly has sped away from her rivals, set a quick pace, and faded through the stretch.
Trainer David Hofmans has tried different distances and surfaces to find the right niche for Bella Banissa, a 4-year-old with 2 wins in 10 starts and earnings of $132,217.
Friday at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting, Bella Banissa makes her second start on the hillside turf course in an optional claimer.