East Boston, Mass. - The rivalry between New England's horse of the year, Ask Queenie, and rising star Flirt for Fame enters round four Saturday as those two female Massachusetts-breds take it to the turf in the $40,000 Thomas Moran Stakes at Suffolk Downs.
Between the two of them, Ask Queenie and Flirt for Fame have won all but one statebred stakes race at Suffolk Downs this year.
Local horsemen at Finger Lakes will have their hands full with invaders from the south in Saturday's two six-furlong stakes for New York-bred juveniles, the $127,638 Aspirant for both sexes and the $126,725 Lady Fingers for fillies.
In the Lady Fingers, the deeper of the two races, Bill Mott and Roger Laurin each bring in a good-looking Saratoga-based filly, while Todd Pletcher has a filly who won her maiden at Belmont and has been training at Monmouth.
Smart and Fancy ended her 2005 juvenile season with three straight victories, including two stakes, and she picked up right where she left off by winning the Beautiful Day at Delaware five weeks ago in her first start of this year. Smart and Fancy will try to make it five straight in the $75,000 Twixt, a one-mile stakes for Maryland-bred 3-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Zarb's Dahar is the two-time defending champion of the $100,000 Cajun Stakes, and he goes for the hat trick Saturday in one of the most anticipated events of the 13-race Louisiana Downs Champions Day program. He will square off against nine rivals at six furlongs.
Lava Man, one of the nation's leading older horses and the winner of five consecutive stakes, drew post 2 for Sunday's Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
Trained by Doug O'Neill for a partnership, Lava Man will be favored in a field of 8. The Pacific Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles.
DEL MAR, Calif. - From coast to coast, Behaving Badly has been a star in the female sprint division this year, winning four of five starts, all in stakes.
On Friday at Del Mar, Behaving Badly's outstanding season continues when she defends her title in the $200,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs on a track on which she has never been beaten.
Trained by Bob Baffert for Patti and Hal Earnhardt, Behaving Badly will be a strong favorite against five fillies and mares. The race is run at 6 1/2 furlongs, a distance at which Behaving Badly is proven.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Arravale finished five lengths behind Wait a While in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Hollywood Park, a third-place finish that was somewhat lost in the wake of the winner's impressive performance.
But Woodbine-based trainer Mac Benson was thrilled with Arravale's effort, and immediately began making plans for a return trip to California for Saturday's $400,000 Del Mar Oaks.
Arravale arrived in California on Monday, and Benson argues that she is in better form than she was at Hollywood Park.
DEL MAR, Calif. - A unique piece of California racing history awaits Lava Man in the winner's circle of Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Lava Man can become the first horse to sweep the state's major races for handicap horses - the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in March, the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup in July, and the Pacific Classic.
Owned by Jason Wood and the Kenly family's STD Racing, Lava Man is the first horse to be in this position.
"It would be an unbelievable accomplishment," said Lava Man's trainer, Doug O'Neill.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The connections of Original Spin had modest objectives for their 3-year-old filly when they decided to ship her to Saratoga for the summer: Find a second-level allowance race early in the meet and then run in the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes at the end.
