A $60,000 purse may sound like a modest amount of money for a restricted stakes. But it's a potential big payday for the group of Virginia-breds entered for Sunday's Punch Line at Colonial Downs.
The five-furlong turf stakes drew a field of eight, including one coupled entry. All of them are still eligible for a first-level allowance, and among the three multiple winners, their highest achievement has been to capture a conditioned claiming race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - An interesting group of former jockeys accepted Woodbine's invitation to appear at Thursday's ceremonial draw for the inaugural Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf.
Sandy Hawley, Robin Platts, Larry Attard, and Hugo Dittfach, all of whom are enshrined in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, were joined by Bobby Cormack, Lloyd Duffy, John LeBlanc, Richard Grubb, and Sam McComb
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jambalaya is closely inbred to the legendary Northern Dancer, and it is only fitting that he looms a serious contender in the inaugural running of the $700,000 Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf on Sunday.
The Grade 2 Northern Dancer is the feature on a fine 11-race card, which will commemorate Woodbine's 50th anniversary. The first 1,000 customers will receive a set of the 2006 Woodbine trading cards collection.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Flaming Heart won the Hill 'n' Dale Stakes in her first local start on June 17, and she will be looking for an encore when she faces five rivals in Sunday's $125,000 Ontario Matron at Woodbine.
The Ontario Matron, for fillies and mares, goes at the same 1 1/16 mile distance as the Hill 'n' Dale.
Flaming Heart, owned by Stronach Stable and trained by Brian Lynch, was making her first start in almost 12 weeks in the Hill 'n' Dale and prevailed by a half-length with Todd Kabel in the irons for the first time."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sophia's Prince, Woodbine's 6 1/2-furlong record holder on the main track, hasn't had much luck on the turf, even though he has banked $140,856 over that surface. He will try to turn his fortunes around at seven furlongs on the grass in Sunday's $75,000 Ontario Jockey Club Stakes.
Sophia's Prince seemed poised to hit the board at the top of the stretch in last year's Grade 1 Atto Mile, only to flip his palate and fade. He got cut off on the backstretch of the Grade 2 Nearctic Handicap in October, but came charging wide to finish a close second.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Top Ten List, third in the balloting for Canada's champion female turf runner last year, headlines Sunday's $125,000 Rainbow Connection here at Fort Erie.
The Rainbow Connection, for Ontario-sired fillies and mares, is scheduled for five furlongs on turf.
Of the 10 entered, only Top Ten List has won on the grass. She has scored three times on the surface, all in stakes, under her regular rider, Corey Fraser.
OMAHA, Neb. - Horsemen's Park closes out its four-day festival of racing on Sunday with the $100,000 Omaha Stakes slated as the final race of the meeting. A group of 10 well-matched older horses will compete at one mile.
Picking the favorite in the race, let alone the winner, may prove no easy task as horses from throughout the Midwest converge. Texas invader Stockholder, trained by Scott Blasi, and Go Now, in from Churchill Downs for trainer Ron Moquet, are the likely candidates to vie for the favorite's role.
For decades, the Saratoga meet ran four weeks and the stakes schedule never changed, but horse racing is changing at a breakneck pace these days, even at the Spa. It's not your father's Saratoga, so here are the Cliffs Notes for this year's modifications:
It's sound counsel to be prejudiced in favor of well-connected horses at Saratoga. The only problem is the trainers in a typical race will read like a roll call of the sport's household names. What is one to do, for example, in a race where the contenders are being saddled by the likes of Pletcher, Frankel, Dutrow, Mott, Biancone, and McGaughey?
Knowledge of past tendencies can sometimes nudge handicappers in the right direction, so the following snapshots of the 22 trainers with at least five wins at last year's Spa session should come in handy.
