ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $500,000 Breeders' Stakes, the 1 1/2-mile turf race that will conclude the Canadian Triple Crown here at Woodbine Sunday, will sport a decidedly different look from its predecessors in the series.
Of the 11 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds entered for the Breeders' on Thursday, only Shillelagh Slew and Ascot Bill will be completing a perfect attendance record for the series, which began here with the Queen's Plate and continued with the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.
Bluegrass Cat, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, drew the outside post for the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on Sunday at Monmouth Park
The premier event of the Monmouth meet attracted nine 3-year-olds for the 1 1/8-mile race. The Haskell will be televised on ESPN from 5 to 6 p.m. Eastern with live coverage that includes Monmouth's Matchmaker Stakes for fillies and mares and the West Virginia Derby from Mountaineer Racetrack.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine cancelled the last three races on its Wednesday night card due to severe weather conditions. Heavy rain and lightning, along with a strong west wind, hit the Toronto area around 9 p.m., just after the fifth race.
Racing is scheduled to resume with a nine-race card Friday afternoon.
Just when the Del Mar chalk was beginning to look invincible, a host of longshot winners landed on Wednesday, and a pick six carryover of $134,339 is for grabs on Thursday.
The first bomb Wednesday was race 5, a $25,000 maiden claimer won by comeback dropper Smoke N Wagers at 47-1. A half-hour later in race 6, a $10,000 claiming sprint, Return of the King dropped two floors and scored at $72.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Longshots in consecutive races on Wednesday has led to a pick six carryover of $134,339 for Thursday's eight-race program.
Thursday's pick six covers the third through eight races. The six races include four races on dirt for claimers. There is little quality on the program.
The third race is a $10,000 claimer for state-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs. The race drew seven runners and is led by Schwindler, the 6-5 favorite on the morning-line.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - For a variety of reasons, Strong Contender never got untracked in the first half of the season. But a recent dominant victory suggests the son of Maria's Mon is finally poised to impact the national 3-year-old scene, and the Haskell Invitational could be his breakthrough race.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The $1 million Haskell Invitational field could increase to eight with the addition of Little Cliff.
Monmouth race secretary Mike Dempsey said Little Cliff was "a good possibility" for the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds on Sunday.
Little Cliff entered the Haskell picture Wednesday, a day before entries were to be drawn.
Trained by Nick Zito, Little Cliff made his last two starts at Delaware Park, winning a second-level allowance race and running third behind Awfully Smart, a Haskell runner, in the Grade 3 Leonard Richards Stakes on July 16.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Brother Derek breezed five furlongs Wednesday at Del Mar and is on schedule for a return to racing within a month, trainer Dan Hendricks said.
Brother Derek was timed in 59.80 seconds, his second official work since returning to training following a brief illness in late June.
Hendricks said Brother Derek will run in the final days of the Del Mar meeting and is scheduled to have two starts before the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Trainer Dave Kassen and one of his bigger clients, the Butterfly Stable, just had Scooter Roach claimed from them for $50,000. Scooter Roach had made several hundred thousand dollars after Kassen and Butterfly acquired him through a claim. But rarely does the racing landscape look the same for too long, and no sooner had Scooter Roach departed the stable than Josefina's Pride, claimed for $50,000 on July 2, joined it.
