ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Mark Casse-trained entry of Seaside Links and Approval Rating will take center stage in Friday's fourth race at Woodbine, a seven-furlong turf allowance that serves as the prep for the Grade 3 Summer Stakes on Sept. 17.
Seaside Links and Approval Rating were both six-figure Keeneland yearling purchases by Woodford Racing LLC, a new racing partnership headed by Bill Farish Jr.
Guitars N Cadilacs yielded late to Tejano Trouble sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 12, and he stretches out to a mile at Northlands Park on Friday. Guitars N Cadilacs looms as the lone speed in the $22,500 allowance, which runs as the featured seventh race on the eve of the Canadian Derby in Edmonton.
AUBURN, Wash. - Lootie and Wazzu Red, the second- and third-place finishers in an Aug. 10 allowance, will be rematched in Friday's feature at Emerald Downs. The feature is a six-furlong affair for 2-year-old fillies who have started for a claiming price of $20,000 or less, and it has drawn a field of seven.
Lootie and Wazzu Red will be relieved to see that Friday's field does not include Asuraslew, who won the Aug. 10 race by 9 1/2 lengths as the overwhelming favorite. Lootie held second by almost two lengths over Wazzu Red after setting the early pace.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Funky Friends hasn't panned out for Swift Thoroughbreds, which claimed him for $80,000 at Hollywood Park last December. But he looks like the one to beat in a $35,000 optional claiming sprint that goes as the seventh race at Hastings Friday. Also in the field is last year's local 2-year-old champ, Regal Request.
Indian Hawke, a talented but inconsistent gelding, was back on top of his game Wednesday at Saratoga, leading throughout under Jose Santos to register a 1 1/2-length victory over Shuffling Madness in the $150,000 . The previously undefeated Run Red Run, the 8-5 favorite, finished third.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Tough luck and a series of paceless races have kept Smart N Classy winless in five starts this season.
The 6-year-old Smart N Classy will try to regain the winning touch Saturday in Monmouth Park's Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes, a race she won last year.
Smart N Classy got up by a nose in last season's running of the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares on the turf.
This season has not been a total loss. Smart N Classy did get seconds in two stakes this season: the Dahlia at Laurel and the Politely at Monmouth.
The Meadowlands Racetrack will offer $2.7 million in stakes money during the 33-day meet that gets under way Sept. 29. Four stakes are graded, with the Grade 2, $500,000 Meadowlands Breeders' Cup Stakes on Oct. 13 the biggest event of the meet.
The opening night feature is the Grade 3, $150,000 Cliff Hanger Stakes on the turf. The Grade 3, $250,000 Pegasus Stakes for 3-year-olds takes place on Oct. 6. The Grade 3, $150,000 Violet Stakes for fillies and mare on the turf closes out the graded lineup on Oct. 20.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Five fillies and mares will contest the one-mile Graceful Klinchit Handicap here at Marquis Downs on Friday evening. The $6,000 handicap is named in honor of the early 1990's runner who became the winningest mare in Saskatchewan history.
There are two daughters of "Gracie" - Picture the Answer and Danz Gracefully - competing in this event, and both of them could make their presence felt.
Golden Gate Fields steps into the future Friday when it begins its 36-day fall meeting.
The 2006 allocation of racing dates gave the track late summer and early-fall dates for the first time in its history, and the track's general manager, Robert Hartman, is unveiling new wagering and promotional opportunities in hopes of attracting fans not used to live racing here in August and September.
Historically, the early-fall dates have always been run at Bay Meadows.
