No Tolerance looks to have a distinct pace advantage when he faces eight rivals in Saturday's $75,000 Prairie Meadows Handicap.
No Tolerance looms as the lone speed in the 1 1/8-mile handicap and should prove tough to catch under his regular rider, Joel Campbell. In his most recent start, No Tolerance scored a gate-to-wire one-length victory in the Mister Gus, going one mile over the turf course at Arlington Park on May 29.
Wildwood Hat Trick's most recent efforts, in a pair of one-turn miles at Arlington Park, were good ones but not his best. In late June, he finished a solid third in the restricted Springfield Stakes. More recently, he was a fading fourth in allowance company after being pressured into setting a fast early pace.
The $40,000 Pete Condellone Memorial, the feature at Fairmount Park, affords Wildwood Hat Trick a prime opportunity to rebound by allowing him to do what he does best: sprint.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - The $60,000 Minnesota Derby and $60,000 Minnesota Oaks showcase the state's best 3-year-olds, and Saturday's renewals, each at a mile and 70 yards, feature several promising runners.
Trickyville Dew should prove the favorite in the Minnesota Derby. Trickyville Dew began this season racing at Oaklawn and Prairie Meadows, where he won his first start around two turns in allowance company in May.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Canadian-bred Miss Rainier caught trainer Tony Diaz's eye the first time she ran at Bay Meadows earlier this year. When she ran a month later at Golden Gate Fields for a claiming price, he quickly put in a $25,000 claim and has been richly rewarded since. The filly has a victory, two seconds, and a third-place finish in four starts after the claim.
On Saturday, Diaz will give her a tough test in the $50,000 Luther Burbank Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at the Sonoma County Fair.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - One does not win eight training titles in a row without ammunition at all class levels, but one division that perennial champion trainer Cole Norman has excelled at in particular is that of top-shelf sprinters. Such is the case again on Saturday as Norman will send out three of the nine runners in the $75,000 Folklore Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs, including starting highweight That Tat.
The three Norman runners are uncoupled in the wagering.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Valid Video worked six furlongs in 1:13 on Wednesday at Monmouth in preparation for his comeback Aug. 6 in the Teddy Drone Stakes.
It has been a long, frustrating road for trainer Dennis Manning. Valid Video was among the leading 3-year-old sprinters in 2003, when he won the Grade 1 King's Bishop at Saratoga, but he has run only five times since competing in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Sprint, in which he tore a sacroiliac muscle, located in the lower back.
"It didn't knit right," Manning said. "Now, fortunately, we're in good shape."
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The well-traveled Bella Shambrock returns to Monmouth Park Saturday for the $60,000 Tyro Stakes.
The Tyro, the first 2-year-old stakes of the meet, attracted a field of eight and serves as a prep for the Grade 3, $150,000 Sapling Stakes on Sept. 4.
Bella Shambrock is the lone stakes winner in the field, having captured the Prairie Gold Juvenile on July 4, closing day of the Thoroughbred meet at Prairie Meadows.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - It was a shining day for a couple of seniors at Fort Erie on Tuesday.
Major Zee, 13, won a quarter-mile sprint for his second win of the year, and trainer Jack Wilson, 86, saddled his fourth winner at the meet.
For Major Zee, bred by the late Steve Stavro, it was his 20th victory in 77 career starts. The $9,900 he earned in the $10,000 claimer raised his earnings to $370,008.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Two $5,000 divisions of the Saskatchewan Futurity, one for each sex, highlight Saturday's card here at Marquis Downs. These six-furlong events for 2-year-olds are restricted to horses that were Canadian-foaled out of mares that were Canadian-owned at the time. Given that no baby races have been run here this season and all entrants are first-time starters, anything could happen.
