SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Minnesota-bred 2-year-olds figure prominently when facing open company in both the $40,000 Canterbury Park Lassie and $40,000 Brian Barenscheer Juvenile Stakes on Saturday at Canterbury Park.
Trainer Scott Blasi sends out the horse to beat, Unbridled Ambiance, against nine rivals in the 5 1/2-furlong Lassie Stakes. Blasi, filling in for the suspended Steve Asmussen, is a Canterbury Park alumnus, having worked as an exercise rider for his brother Greg here in the mid-1990's.
OMAHA, Neb. - No Sleep should be a big favorite over five other fillies and mares in the $40,000 Queen's Handicap at Horsemen's Park on Saturday, the third day of the track's summer racing festival.
Maggi Moss, the leading owner in the country by races won, will run No Sleep and Switch Lanes as an uncoupled entry in the Queen's. Both are trained by Dick Clark.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Laura de Seroux trains horses in California, but she has been a regular player in Arlington Park turf stakes races the last four years. This week, she sent three horses for two of the graded stakes on Arlington's Saturday program: Artiste Royal starts in the Grade 3, $200,000 Arlington Handicap, and Royal Copenhagen and Round Heels start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Modesty.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Del Mar set records on Wednesday for opening day all-sources handle and attendance, and came close to setting an all-time track attendance record.
On a warm, muggy afternoon, Del Mar drew a crowd of 42,005, the second-highest in track history. The record of 44,181 was set on Pacific Classic Day in 1996 when Dare and Go upset Cigar.
Charles Town Races in West Virginia has canceled all its open stakes races scheduled for later this year in the face of tightening revenue from the track's slot machines, the president of the Charles Town Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association said Thursday.
Happy Ticket, winner of the Grade 2, $300,000 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs most recently and one of the top mares in the country, breezed five furlongs at her Louisiana Downs base Thursday as she continues preparation for her next start, which will come at either Saratoga Race Course or Del Mar, said her trainer, Andrew Leggio Jr.
She worked in 1:01.60.
"It was easy, just enough to keep her fit," said Leggio.
HENDERSON, Ky. - The paradox might be as old as racing itself. A horse that habitually makes a strong late move in one-turn races logically figures to fare even better at longer distances, but seasoned horseplayers know it just doesn't always work that way.
OCEANPORT, N.J - Love Locket should be sharper and fitter than she was in her 2006 debut for Saturday's $65,000 Serena's Song Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Monmouth Park.
The Serena's Song is the mile and 70-yard prep for Monmouth's Grade 3, $200,000 Monmouth Breeders' Cup Oaks on Aug. 13, and , trained by Todd Pletcher, seems right on target for that goal.
She has made one start this season, a fourth-place finish in Monmouth's Dearly Precious Stakes on June 17. The race was at six furlongs, and that's not Love Locket's game.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The last two winners of the $125,000 Colin Stakes, Edenwold and Wholelottabourbon, were both eventually voted the Sovereign Award for champion 2-year-old.
This year's Colin, to be run Saturday at Woodbine, might not contain any future Canadian champions, but the eight-horse field has a pair of rapid American shippers, Datrick and Gonetoground.
Datrick is only a nose away from being unbeaten in four starts, all for trainer Steve Asmussen. He romped in his debut at Keeneland, then captured the Grade 3 Kentucky Breeders' Cup Stakes at Churchill.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Pellegrino's bandwagon may be losing momentum heading into Sunday's first running of the $700,000 Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf here at Woodbine.
But Pellegrino is undoubtedly talented, and if he's in the mood, then the 1 1/2-mile turf race could be his for the taking.
Pellegrino, a 7-year-old horse, is an Argentine transplant who displayed steady improvement in North America and won the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup in December of 2004 for trainer Don Burke.
