ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The last time Seaside Retreat raced on a surface other than turf was the Kentucky Derby.
On Sunday, Seaside Retreat will be returning to a main track and a derby of a different sort in the Ontario Derby, which will be run over 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack here at Woodbine.
Seaside Retreat, a Kentucky-bred owned by Bill Farish Jr. and trained by Mark Casse, has started three times on turf since finishing 10th of 20 in the May 5 Kentucky Derby.
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela rode one winner from three mounts at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting Thursday, his first mounts in California following a two-month absence in which he spent part of the time hospitalized for undisclosed reasons.
The program was the first time that Valenzuela had ridden in California since the end of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting in July. He sought to return in early September, but that was delayed while discussions took place between the California Horse Racing Board and Valenzuela's advisors about the terms of his return.
ELMONT, N.Y. - For Discreet Cat, the hardest part of Sunday's Grade 2 Jerome Handicap may have been getting the entry box to close. Surprisingly, five other 3-year-olds were entered against him in the $150,000 Jerome, contested at a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Nechako heads a strong field of Canadian-foaled 2-year-olds in the $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity at Hastings on Sunday.
Nine have been entered in the 6 1/2-furlong feature, and although there are plenty of contenders, Nechako is clearly the one to beat.
Nechako, owned and trained by Sid Martin, deserves to be favored off his sharp win in the New Westminster Stakes on Aug. 27. The horse who finished second, Thesaratogaexpress, came back to win the CTHS Sales Stakes on Sept. 10, and he beat many of the horses Nechako will face in the Futurity.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Trainer Cody Autrey has had nothing short of a break-out year in 2006, saddling winners at a 24 percent clip and winning 72 times. Before expanding operations this year and last, Autrey was known more for "project" horses, usually taking those with some class potential in the mid- to upper claiming levels and turning them into allowance and stakes performers. He has one such representative in Sunday's allowance feature in the form of Red Soldier.
MIAMI - On paper, Formal Miss appears to be a standout against nine other fillies and mares in Sunday's $45,000 Capital Request Stakes at Calder. But that doesn't necessarily make her a good bet in the overnight stakes, scheduled to be run at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
Trained by Paul Maxwell, Formal Miss has been among the leaders of the local filly-and-mare turf division for the last several seasons.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It took nearly three years for Healthy Addiction to reach the top of a jumbled division. Her challenge Sunday is to stay there.
Five fillies and mares entered the Grade 2 Lady's Secret Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race that is the California farewell for Healthy Addiction, the favorite. A durable Grade 1 winner, Healthy Addiction will race once more, in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, before she retires.
The Arlington Park main track played fast for much of the meet that concluded a couple Tuesdays ago, but just as notable were the number of paceless turf races. Time and time again the fractional times in a grass race would be posted, and any horseplayer or horse-person with a deep closer would groan: How could your steed rally and win when the front-runners weren't going to be slowing down?
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Did Fleet Storm bounce in his last race, the Don Valliere Memorial Cup here at Fort Erie on Sept. 10? Or did he merely lack racing luck?
Maybe it was a bit of both.
As the heavy favorite, Fleet Storm finished sixth that day in what appeared to be a lackluster effort. Fleet Storm had earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 82 three weeks earlier for his 1 1/2-length win in the Anderson Memorial Cup.
"He trained good and everything before the race," said trainer John Simms.
