Auguri and Misto Quente, who raced one-two around Saratoga's main track for nearly the entire 1 3/16 miles of last month's John's Call, are rematched at the same distance in the $100,000 Kelso Stakes at Delaware Park.
The front-running Auguri, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Barclay Tagg, led wire to wire in the off-the-turf John's Call, a race restricted to horses that had not won a graded stakes this season, finishing 4 1/2 lengths clear of Misto Quente.
With two stakes victories, placings in two graded events, and more than $300,000 in earnings already this season, Gasia is by far the most accomplished 3-year-old filly in Saturday's $200,000 Martha Washington Breeders' Cup at Laurel Park.
But the 1 1/16-mile turf race may not be an ideal spot for Gasia to perform at her best.
Gasia, based at Delaware Park with trainer Larry Jones, will be making her first start on grass in more than a year and giving away considerable experience on the surface to her nine opponents.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Wait a While, the 3-year-old turf filly from New York, has yet to face a test in a turf stakes this year. Easy wins in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Hollywood Park in July and the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga in August have made her the undisputed leader of her division.
Saturday's $75,000 Presidio at one mile on the turf comes at a perfect time for El Don and Super Strut. Both are running well as they approach their ultimate fall objective, the $175,000 Cal Cup Mile on Oct. 28 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet.
"This is a tough race for us to pass up," said Marty Jones, who trains El Don. "It's kind of tailor-made for what we want to do. He's never run on the turf at Golden Gate Fields, but he has run well at Bay Meadows."
Lexi Star was a tired filly after a demanding effort in the slop in Monmouth's Grade 2 Molly Pitcher Breeders' Cup Handicap in late August.
"She laid down and was dead tired for two days," said Bowie-based trainer Chris Grove.
Grove expects a strong rebound from the 4-year-old Lexi Star in the $60,000 Long Look Stakes for fillies and mares Saturday night at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The 1 1/8-mile race drew a field of six with Lexi Star owning a substantial edge in recent Beyer Speed Figures. She ran an 88 and an 86 in her last two races.
MIAMI - With Festival of the Sun Preview Day in the rear-view mirror and the big Festival of the Sun program just over the horizon, Saturday's 13-race card at Calder represents the lull in between the two, with a $26,000 first-level allowance race on the turf for fillies and mares serving as the afternoon's feature event.
What Saturday's headliner lacks in quality it makes up for in quantity, with a full field of 12 signed on for what looks like an extremely wide-open betting affair if it goes as scheduled on grass.
Zee Oh Six has been a fixture on the Oklahoma Classics Day program at Remington Park since 2002, when he won the featured Classic in his first start in the series. Saturday night, Zee Oh Six will be making his fifth appearance in the Classic, which at $100,000 is the richest of seven divisional Oklahoma-bred stakes on the card. Together, the restricted stakes are worth a Classics Day-record $400,000.
Who knew that a rematch between the one-two finishers in the Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., would come - drum roll please - at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Ill.?
For that matter, who knew that Saturday's Gold Cup, a Grade 2, $500,000 race that has produced horses as good as Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, could come down to those one-two finishers, Flamethrowintexan and Papi Chullo?
And to be honest, how many Midwest racing fans even know who Papi Chullo and Flamethrowintexan are?
As the Kentucky Cup opener, the Grade 3, $175,000 Turfway Breeders' Cup Stakes has at least several elements to set an exciting tone for the five-race series Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile race drew a full field that includes a Grade 1 winner shipping in from New York (Splendid Blended) and arguably the top female runners from the Florida circuit (Prospective Saint) and Illinois circuit (Stop a Train).
