BOSSIER CITY, La. - Even though there were 13 races carded for Louisiana-breds on Saturday's Champions Day program, there were enough Cajun-breds left over to put together a solid feature in Sunday's featured fourth event. A field of seven fillies and mares will go a mile on the turf in quest of a $30,000 purse.
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DRF Past Performances
AUBURN, Wash. - Shortly after Starbird Road notched his third win from four starts this year in the July 30 Governor's Handicap at Emerald Downs, the main sprint prep for Sunday's Grade 3 Longacres Mile, owner Rick Beal expressed reservations about running his stable star back in the Mile.
"There is a rule of thumb that you shouldn't ask a horse to do two new things at once," Beal said. "We would be asking Starbird Road to go long for the first time in his first race against graded stakes company. That might be asking too much."
AURORA, Colo. - Trainer Earl McKinnon appears to have been waiting for Sunday's $25,000 Mount Elbert at Arapahoe Park, as he sends out Long Range in the 1 /16-mile race for Colorado-bred colts and geldings. But winning won't be easy, as Long Range is among a solid group of seven, including the multiple stakes winner Cajun Pepper.
Long Range's lone victory from six outings here last season came in the Mount Elbert, for owner Lewis Tuck. He won by 1 1/4 lengths, defeating Cut of Music and Tank Two, both of whom return in Sunday's lineup. McKinnon is hoping for a repeat.
It seems like a stretch, but some owners with horses in Sunday's C.J. Hindley-Humboldt County Marathon are comparing the race to the Kentucky Derby.
"The purse is very low, but there's something special about it," said Cindy Olsen, who will start Derby Rider along with partners Jack Retzloff and Roy DeMarta. "This is like the Kentucky Derby here at Ferndale."
It's not just locals who feel that way.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Edenwold and Shillelagh Slew will be taking their rivalry on the road. Both are heading to Northlands Park in Edmonton for the Aug. 26 Canadian Derby, a 1 3/8-mile race that offers Grade 3 status and a purse of $300,000.
Edenwold and Shillelagh Slew met in the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, with Edenwold winning Woodbine's Queen's Plate and Shillelagh Slew winning Fort Erie's Prince of Wales via disqualification. Edenwold skipped the Breeders' at Woodbine on Aug. 6, when Shillelagh Slew finished third to Royal Challenger.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The trainer's race at Hastings is starting to heat up. Through last weekend, Terry Jordan and Terry Clyde were tied for the lead with 26 wins. Close on their heels were Barb Heads and Gary Demorest, who won his first training title last year. Heads has won 24 races at the meet, good for third place, and Demorest is fourth with 23 wins.
Okey Dokey Fantasy, undefeated in eight starts including three futurities, is expected to be favored in the $2,050,000 All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on Sept. 4 after setting the 10th fastest qualifying time in Thursday's trials.
Ridden by Juan Vazquez for trainer John Boegner, Okey Dokey Fantasy won the ninth of 17 trials run on a sealed track. He ran 440 yards in 21.31 seconds, the 10th and final qualifying spot.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Pine Island received a baptism by fire running in Grade 1 stakes in her third and fourth starts. She acquitted herself well by finishing second, beaten less than a length, both times.
With those two efforts under her belt, and a switch to a Saratoga surface that is playing to her late-running style, Pine Island looks well positioned to win her first Grade 1 in Saturday's $600,000 at Saratoga. The Alabama, restricted to 3-year-old fillies, is run at 1 1/4 miles.
