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.
, who set the pace in the $150,000 Shine Young Futurity on July 1 before giving ground grudgingly in the late going, figures again to be the one to catch in Saturday night's colt and gelding division of the $100,000 John Franks Memorial Sales Stakes at Evangeline Downs.
Nine 2-year-old males who passed through the sales ring at Evangeline in March were entered in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - 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.
Wanna Runner and Bright One are among the 13 3-year-olds entered for the $750,000 West Virginia Derby, the Grade 3 fixture that highlights a rich all-stakes card Sunday at Mountaineer Racetrack.
Wanna Runner, a Bob Baffert-trained gelding who won the WinStar and Lone Star derbies before being soundly beaten as the favorite in his last start, the June 25 Queen's Plate, drew post 7 in the 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Derby, which will be limited to 12 starters.
Private Indeed, unbeaten in three starts since going to Tony Dutrow's barn and switching to turf sprints, will try to extend her winning streak when she steps up in class for the $54,000 Slavic Light Stakes on Saturday at Delaware Park.
The five-furlong grass race drew 14 fillies and mares, but only nine will be permitted to start.
The 7-year-old sprinter Crafty Schemer, coming off a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit, will attempt to retain his sharp form in the $60,000 Chesapeake Stakes at Colonial Downs.
Four of the rivals Crafty Schemer faces in the six-furlong dirt stakes - Celtic Innis, Forest Park, Dale's Prospect, and City Weekend - finished behind him in different races since last December.
Coach Jimi Lee looms as a short-priced standout when he faces five rivals in Saturday's $75,000 Prairie Meadows Sprint Stakes going six furlongs.
In his most recent start, Coach Jimi Lee won the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows by 4 3/4 lengths over Grade 1 winner Bishop Court Hill, clocking the six furlongs in 1:08.29. The victory was Coach Jimi Lee's third straight in the Iowa Sprint Handicap, and the competition he faces Saturday doesn't look nearly as strong.
The 12-year-old Proven Cure must run down Sweepingly in order to defend his title in the $50,000 Brother Brown Stakes at Remington Park.
The five-furlong turf sprint is for 3-year-olds and upward, and it drew a strong mix of horses, including main-track stakes winners Top Commander and Premier Dance.
Sweepingly registered the biggest win of his career on turf, when he led throughout in the $100,000 Beck Auto Group Turf Sprint at Lone Star Park on May 29. That race came during a streak in which Sweepingly won five straight races.
With its field restricted to 3-year-olds sired and bred in Ohio, and run over turf, a surface foreign to most of its entrants, the Horizon Stakes has for years presented a handicapping challenge to bettors at River Downs.
Provided the $50,000 Horizon remains on the grass Saturday, sifting through pedigrees in search of turf influences is a good starting point. And for those with a keen knowledge of Ohio pedigrees, and a long memory, Petey G qualifies as a potential player in the 1 1/16-mile Horizon.
