Defending champion Dale's Prospect will have to catch the speedy P. Kerney in order to repeat in the $50,000 Taking Risks, the closing-day feature at Timonium.
A 6 1/2-furlong race for Maryland-breds, the Taking Risks drew a field of seven older sprinters.
Since winning last year's Taking Risks by a neck, Dale's Prospect has won only one of eight starts. He does get in at 118 pounds, six pounds less than P. Kerney must carry.
Dontbotherknocking and Major Rhythm, who have accounted for the last two runnings of the DeBartolo Memorial Breeders' Cup Handicap at Remington Park, will take on newcomers Load a Chronic, Nobodywantmetilnow, Gin and Sin, and Real Dandy in the $150,000 DeBartolo Memorial on Monday.
A 1 1/8-mile race, the DeBartolo is the richest turf race of the meet and the main event on a three-stakes card that will have a special daytime post of 2:30 p.m. Central. It drew a field of 12.
Be a Resident, who is undefeated in three career starts, returns from a two-month freshening on Monday in the $50,000 Clever Trevor for 2-year-olds at Remington Park. The race is one of two undercard stakes supporting the $150,000 DeBartolo Memorial.
The other undercard stakes is the $75,000 Ricks Memorial.
Monday night's $100,000 Lafayette Stakes at Evangeline Downs drew six juveniles, including three of the better 2-year-olds in the Midwest. The traditional closing night headliner, the Lafayette will be contested at six furlongs.
Three will likely vie for the role of favorite, including Sentry, who drew the outside.
Idle since finishing third in the Grade 3 Kentucky Breeders' Cup on May 4 at Churchill Downs, Sentry is being trained by Scott Blasi while Steve Asmussen serves a six-month suspension.
While the $40,000 All Sold Out Stakes at Fairmount Park has a field mostly made up of locally trained fillies, the likely favorite, Tak's Wish, has been plying her trade on far tougher circuits, including Arlington Park.
Owned and trained by Dawn Martin, Tak's Wish placed twice in open maiden special weights at Churchill Downs and Arlington before stepping down into the Illinois-bred ranks for her third start, finishing a distant second. Tak's Wish finally graduated against statebreds at Arlington in her fourth start, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 60.
Older horses get their last chance at a stakes victory in Nebraska in the $15,000-added Labor Day Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs at Columbus.
Lali's Cat is the defending champion of the Labor Day, but he will have his work cut out in this evenly matched field. Lali's Cat was claimed by Bill Isburg for $6,500 in his last start here, a 6 1/2-length romp for his second straight win. Jerry Carkeek has the mount in a speed-laden field where the late kick of Lali's Cat should be most effective.
AURORA, Colo. - Folsum, who destroyed his opposition in the
Aug. 26 Silver Cup Futurity, seeks to remain undefeated in Monday's $40,000-added Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe Park. Folsum, a 16 3/4-length winner in the Cup, will be asked to return on short rest and face stiffer company in the six-furlong Gold Rush.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Larry Jones was stuck in a Grade 1 New York metropolitan area traffic jam Friday morning as he tried to make his way from Delaware to Saratoga. It wouldn't be surprising if some of his colleagues on this circuit were responsible for the roadblocks.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With the versatility he has shown, Amigoni may be in a position to dictate the way the Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac is run Sunday on the Mellon Turf Course at Saratoga.
None of the nine 3-year-old colts entered in the 1 3/16-mile Saranac has shown a penchant for speed. Amigoni, however, has used a tactical style that has allowed him to be on or near the pace in all three of his U.S. starts.
