EDMONTON, Alberta - A well-matched group of eight 3-year-old fillies are in the spotlight here Sunday at Northlands Park, with each seeking to score her first allowance victory of the season in the one-mile feature.
Leading the way by virtue of her marginal drop in class is Awesome Deal, trained by Ernie Keller.
After she capped her juvenile campaign with a smart victory in the $50,000 Freedom of the City Stakes, the prognosis for Awesome Deal's 3-year-old season seemed bright.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Coeur Joie couldn't keep up with the top two older horses in Western Canada when he took on True Metropolitan and Spaghetti Mouse in the Sir Winston Churchill Stakes Sept. 24. Nonetheless, he looks like the one to beat in the feature race at Hastings Sunday, a $35,000 optional claiming race at 1 1/16 miles which drew a very good field of older horses. Stakes winners Joyride, Steady Smiler, and Commodore Craig are also part of the eight-horse field.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Belmont Park canceled Friday's pick six and transferred the $456,860 carryover to Saturday's card because of problems with the audio and video transmission to TVG and over 1,000 offtrack simulcast outlets.
The Saturday card is the biggest of the fall meet with five Grade 1 stakes topped by the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup. The pick six will begin with the fifth race on the 10-race card.
"The Verizon fiber-optic lines failed," said New York Racing Association senior vice president Bill Nader.
Wait a While stamped herself as a strong contender for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf when she scored a dominant win against older competitors in Santa Anita's Yellow Ribbon Stakes last weekend. Her stablemate in the Todd Pletcher barn could also be Breeders' Cup-bound if she reverts to her early season form in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational at 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park.
Based on breeding and the interest attracted at auction, Police Woman and Cool Paradigm may have the most potential among an evenly matched group of 12 for Saturday's $50,000 Finger Lakes Juvenile Fillies at six furlongs.
Police Woman, trained by Eric Reed, is a daughter of Officer, this year's leading sire of 2-year-olds. Among 30 horses sired by Officer to race in 2006, 17 have won, including four in stakes.
Police Woman has been racing in West Virginia, where she decisively won her maiden in July and most recently just missed in a first-level allowance.
ELMONT, N.Y. - , one of the leading U.S. hopefuls for the Breeders' Cup turf, faces an intriguing trio of European horses in the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Frost Giant, a 3-year-old colt from leading Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien, and the 4-year-old fillies Freedonia and Royal Highness all make their U.S. debuts in the 1 1/2-mile Hirsch.
English Channel goes for his third Grade 1 victory of the season, having won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs and the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Defending champions Magical Gem and Ebony Star are likely to have a difficult time repeating in two six-furlong $50,000 stakes restricted to Delaware-certified horses on Saturday at Delaware Park.
In order to be eligible, a horse must have been stabled in Delaware for at least 90 days prior to turning 2 years old.
In an era where Thoroughbreds are lightly raced and carefully spotted at their best distance and surface, Ah Day sticks out for his sturdiness and versatility.
A 3-year-old gelding trained by King Leatherbury, Ah Day has already raced 12 times this season and won five while competing on dirt and turf at distances ranging from six furlongs to 1 1/8 miles.
The jack-of-all-trades will switch gears again when Ah Day goes from a nine-furlong turf race to six furlongs on dirt for Saturday's $100,000 Sonny Hine Stakes at Laurel Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Since the summer, trainer Richard Dutrow has basically stated that he has made no plans to have Silver Train defend his Breeders' Cup Sprint title this year. Dutrow's reasoning has been that Silver Train is "a special horse" at Belmont Park - where the Breeders' Cup was held last year - but nowhere else.
ELMONT, N.Y. - At $400,000, the has the smallest purse among the five Grade 1 races being run Saturday at Belmont Park. But with Silver Train and Henny Hughes in the five-horse field, the Vosburgh may have the highest intrigue among the day's marquee events.