VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It will be a different look and feel when Hastings puts on its biggest day of racing Monday.
Since the B.C. Cup was conceived in 1996, all seven stakes on the card had been restricted to British Columbia-breds. Citing dwindling foal numbers in the province and short fields the last couple of years, management at Hastings opened up the three races for older horses - Classic, Distaff, and Sprint - to horses bred or owned in British Columbia.
HENDERSON, Ky. - In the wake of the four heat-related cancellations at East Coast tracks Wednesday, the proverbial holes being burnt in the pockets of North American horseplayers resulted in the second-largest all-sources handle in Ellis Park history.
The biggest problem trainer Larry Rivelli may have Saturday at Calder is deciding in which race to run his amazing five-furlong turf specialist Nicole's Dream, who was cross-entered in the $250,000 Turf Sprint Championship Handicap as well as its filly counterpart, the $250,000 Distaff Turf Sprint Championship Handicap.
The two turf sprints highlight Saturday's card, which also includes the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $100,000 Desert Vixen stakes, opening legs of the Florida Stallion Stakes series.
Races can be lost at the post position draw, especially when dealing with large fields of 12 or more horses. Trainer Steve DiMauro is hoping that won't be the case with Straight Faced, his undefeated and untested 2-year-old, who drew post 13 for Saturday's $100,000 Dr. Fager Stakes.
The six-furlong Dr. Fager and its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Desert Vixen Stakes, begin the 2006 Florida Stallion Stakes series, which is restricted to 2-year-olds whose stallions are nominated to the Florida Stallion Stakes program.
The experience that Untouched Talent gained by winning the Juan Gonzalez Stakes in her debut last month will play a vital role in Saturday's $150,000 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar.
She broke from the rail in that five-furlong race at Pleasanton, led throughout, and won easily. It was a performance expected from a filly bought for $500,000 at the Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training.
For her second start, Untouched Talent will need to draw on that experience when she breaks from the rail in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs.
In an era when short fields have become all too commonplace in stakes races across the country, Saturday's $250,000 Test at Saratoga will provide a refreshing change of pace with 14 3-year-old fillies expected to start in the seven-furlong, Grade 1 race.
The Test drew 15, including the Patrick Biancone-trained entry of 2005 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Wild Fit and the Grade 1-placed Sabatini. Biancone said Sabatini will run if the track is fast; Wild Fit goes if the track is off.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Following a much-improved effort with the addition of blinkers, In Return makes her stakes debut in the $60,000 Eatontown Staybridge Suites Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth. The 1 1/16-mile race is for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.
Aly's Vow has won her last three races on the turf. But she is also a winner on dirt, and on Saturday she will move back to the main track and attempt to win her fourth straight race in the $50,000 Senorita for 3-year-old fillies at Louisiana Downs.
"I think she's just as good on the dirt as she is on the grass," said Wes Hawley, who trains Aly's Vow.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Faced with a choice of mounts in the $75,000 John Bullit Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf contest for older horses, Derek Bell and his agent, Richard Grunder, were forced to make a decision that could affect this year's choice for horse of the meet honors at Canterbury Park.
Bell is named on , and is getting off Al's Dearly Bred.
