SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Sand Rush, who has been near perfect here at Marquis Downs this year, goes for his sixth win of the meeting in Friday's $6,000 City Centre Bingo Sweepstakes Handicap.
If Sand Rush takes the Sweepstakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for the top older horses on the grounds, he would complete a sweep of the three City Centre Bingo-sponsored races and earn his connections a $2,000 bonus.
MIAMI - Calder's racing secretary, Mike Anifantis, and his crew are back on regular schedule these days after getting a bit of a break this summer, with racing conducted only three days per week here from July 17 through Aug. 28. The format proved to be an unequivocal success, Anifantis said.
Heading into the final three days of the 36-day mixed meeting at Prairie Meadows, Alex Birzer holds a one-win lead over Glenn Corbett in the jockey standings, with Carlos Montalvo and Terry Thompson within striking range four and five wins back, respectively. Birzer is seeking his first Prairie Meadows riding title, while Corbett has captured the mixed meet title in six of the past seven years.
Trainer Dick Clark is on his way to a sixth straight mixed meeting title, as he holds a 24-18 advantage over Ray Tracy Jr.
The ultra-consistent filly Carnival Chrome solidified her status as one of the favorites for next month's West Virginia Breeders Classic races at Charles Town by scoring a four-length victory in Saturday's first round of preps.
Carnival Chrome ($3.20), ridden by Dale Whittaker for trainer David Waters, wired the seven-furlong Roger Van Hoozer Memorial in 1:26.12 on Saturday over a sealed track labeled muddy. She was awarded a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 for the win, her sixth victory in seven lifetime starts.
SELMA, Texas - Trainer James Jones is back at Retama Park after taking a one-year hiatus to work with young horses at Holly Hill Training Center in South Carolina. A former assistant to trainer Frank Brothers, he registered his first winner of the meet last Saturday night with the 2-year-old filly Prom.
Jones had launched his own public racing stable in the fall of 2001 after a 10-year association with Brothers. He has five horses in training at Retama, where he set up shop upon his return from South Carolina.
Dontbotherknocking and More Than Promised both remained perfect over the Remington turf with their stakes wins at the track on Monday. Dontbotherknocking became the first two-time winner of the DeBartolo Memorial Breeders' Cup, and overall has won three stakes over the local course. His other major objective this meet is the defense of his title in the $100,000 Remington Green Stakes on Oct. 20, said his trainer, Bernell Rhone.
Lone Star Park will host the $1 million MBNA America Challenge Championships, a program of 12 major stakes for Quarter Horses, on Nov. 11. The card is part of a 36-race, $3.6 million stakes schedule for the track's Quarter Horse meet, which opens Oct. 6. The season will run for 32 nights, through Dec. 2.
ALBANY, Calif. - A Hall of Fame trainer and a record-setting jockey have turned a 2-year-old maiden race into the most intriguing race on Friday's Golden Gate Fields card.
Surf Academy will make his debut for trainer Neil Drysdale in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden test against five rivals. Victor Espinoza, who set a Del Mar record by winning seven races there Monday, will ride.
"We've just been trying to find a spot," said Drysdale. "Obviously, he'll be a little green. He might need a race."
RUIDOSO, N.M. - Fastest qualifier Streakin Illusively and Retama Park Futurity winner Zoomin for Bux are the horses to beat in the Grade 1, $316,000 Sam Houston Futurity on Friday night at Sam Houston Race Park.
Streakin Illusively has three wins in four starts, with his sole defeat a third-place finish in the TQHA Sale Futurity as the 1-2 favorite. He rebounded from that loss in his Sam Houston trial, bobbling at the start and rallying to win in 20.268 seconds for 400 yards, the fastest qualifying time.