Nebraska's final extended meeting of the season gets under way Friday night when Columbus fires up for a 24-day session that runs through Sept. 10.
Columbus will sport one of its highest purse levels ever, with purses ranging from a bottom of $5,000 up to more than $8,000 for higher-allowance level horses. Stakes races also received a boost this year and will have a minimum of $12,500.
Got Country Grip, a Paint racehorse who is undefeated in 11 career starts, will attempt to extend his win streak on Friday night at Fair Meadows in Tulsa in the $45,000 Speedhorse Derby. He will face nine others in the 350-yard race for 3-year-old Paints and Appaloosas.
Got County Grip is considered one of the fastest horses in Paint racing, which became recognized in 1966. He broke the sport's world record for 400 yards when he ran the distance in 19.55 seconds in the PSBA Stakes at Remington Park in April.
For the second straight year, Lady Riss won the Bungalow Handicap for Illinois-bred fillies and mares at Fairmount Park. She won the race last Saturday, the same night that her younger half-sister Icy Mocha scored in a second-level allowance. Both Lady Riss, by Unreal Zeal, and Icy Mocha, by Alaskan Frost, race for their breeder, Dana Waier.
Lady Riss earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88 for her Bungalow win, 2 points short of her career best.
Its His Time took over the top of the handicap ranks at Great Lakes Downs with a decisive 1 1/2-length victory in the Michigan Breeders' Handicap on Tuesday evening.
It was his seventh win in 10 attempts over the local course and came at the expense of 2005 Michigan horse of the year Rockem Sockem. Meadow Vespers was a head back in third after a late rally.
Friday's five-furlong optional claiming feature on the turf at Louisiana Downs may prove to be a turning point for one of those in the field. Half of the eight entered will be making their first start on the grass, including the likely favorite, I'm to Lucky.
Cumberland Gap has flashed his amazing speed for the last time. A 14-year-old Allen's Prospect gelding, Cumberland Gap raced for the 161st time Saturday, setting the pace into the stretch, as usual, before tiring to finish fifth. In his 13 years of racing he posted at 34-26-17 record for earnings of $324,183. Fifteen of his wins came at Thistledown.
"We're doing what is in the best interest of the horse," said Robin Schuster, who trains Cumberland Gap.
According to Schuster, Cumberland Gap will be retired at owner Mark Yagour's farm in nearby Chesterland, Ohio.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ontario Matron, take two.
Six fillies and mares were set to compete here last Sunday in the $125,000 Ontario Matron, which was one of seven inner-track races canceled because of unsafe conditions caused by torrential rains at Woodbine.
On Friday, the Ontario Matron, run at 1 1/16 miles, is scheduled to come back with the same cast. Woodbine does not reopen or redraw stakes delayed by such circumstances.
Friday's feature at the Sonoma County Fair could be the perfect spot for All Flags Flying to steal a victory. A one-mile allowance race on Santa Rosa's turf course, the feature has a field of seven, and All Flags Flying is a threat to lead all the way.
A 5-year-old mare, All Flags Flying was claimed by trainer Kent Molinaro for $25,000 from her last start May 4, when she finished third after setting an opening half in 44.44 seconds in a five-furlong turf race.
Molinaro has taken his time bringing All Flags Flying back, giving her only one work from May to July.
Estrelita D' Cielo continued her ascent at Yavapai on Monday, when she won the $15,000 Willow Lake Handicap at a mile. A 5-year-old mare, Estrelita D' Cielo was facing cheap restricted claimers as recently as April at Turf Paradise, but her form has surged lately and she is now a stakes winner.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The $50,000 B.C. Cup Sprint was already shaping up to be a very good race, but with the likely addition of Metatron, the 6 1/2-furlong Sprint could be the most intriguing race on B.C. Cup Day at Hastings on Aug. 7.
Metatron, trained by Mel Snow, was one of the top stakes horses at Hastings in 2004, when he won four races, including the Sir Winston Churchill Stakes. He also finished second in the Independence Day Handicap at Emerald Downs and led for the first six furlongs in the Longacres Mile before tiring to finish fifth.