ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Bob Baffert's three Woodbine starters in the past 10 years all failed to hit the board, but he figures to improve on that record Sunday when he sends out favored Wanna Runner in the 147th running of the , North America's oldest continuously run stakes.
The $1 million Plate, a 1 1/4-mile event for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, heads a stellar 11-race card, which includes three other stakes: the $200,000 Highlander, the $100,000 Charlie Barley and the $100,000 Singspiel.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soaring Free, Canada's Horse of the Year in 2004, will try to relive past glory in the $200,000 Highlander Stakes, the supporting feature on Queen's Plate Day at Woodbine.
has won the last two runnings of the Grade 3 Highlander, a six-furlong turf dash. He could only manage a sixth-place finish under John Velazquez in his lone start this year, in the Grade 3 Shakertown at Keeneland in April.
Hugh Chatman, the assistant to trainer Mark Frostad, said Soaring Free had a tough trip in the Shakertown.
Past performances for Churchill Downs' Saturday and Sunday $100,000 guaranteed pick fours will appear at the end of the full-card file for the following tracks:
Arlington
Belmont Park
Delaware Park
Hollywood Park
Lone Star Park
Louisiana Downs
Monmouth Park
Woodbine
:: (Pick 4 races are 7,8,9,10)
Chris Emigh, the leading rider by 20 wins at Arlington, was off his mounts Friday and described the timetable for his return as day-to-day as he recovers from a Wednesday spill. Emigh went down when his mount in Wednesday's third race either stumbled or clipped heels approaching the far turn. Emigh was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with a concussion, and though he apparently has suffered no serious injuries, he said Friday that his entire body was sore.
Film Maker, a winner of five graded stakes over her three seasons of racing, makes her first start as a 6-year-old on Saturday in the Grade 3 All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes on the turf at Colonial Downs.
Though brings perhaps the best credentials into the 1 1/8-mile All Along, she will likely be the second choice in the strong six-horse field, behind Wend, the conservatively raced 5-year-old mare who is 7 for 11 lifetime.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Noble Stella returns to Belmont Park Saturday to face some familiar foes in the Grade 2, $250,000 for fillies and mares on the turf.
Noble Stella, Angara, and Asi Siempre - the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers in the Sheepshead Bay Handicap here on May 27 - square off once again. This time they don't have to worry about Honey Ryder, one of division leaders who might face the boys in Monmouth Park's United Nations Stakes next month.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainers based at Hollywood Park reacted with guarded optimism on Thursday regarding the track's decision to install a synthetic surface later this summer, with some expressing relief that the current dirt course will be replaced and others wondering how their horses will handle training on a new surface.
Hollywood Park announced on Wednesday that Equestrian Surfaces of Burnley, England, has been chosen to install a synthetic surface. The new surface will be ready for training in September and used for racing during the fall meeting, which begins on Nov. 1.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Moscow Burning is a millionaire, a multiple stakes winner, and proven at longer distances on turf. Those are the ingredients necessary to win races such as Saturday's $150,000 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Moscow Burning is the 121-pound topweight and will start favored against eight rivals in the Grade 2 Beverly Hills, run at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Owned by Don Van Kampen and trained by Jim Cassidy, Moscow Burning will be seeking her 12th win on Saturday.
The vacation is over for Flower Alley, who headlines the field Saturday for the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park.
A 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher, makes his first start since finishing second to Horse of the Year Saint Liam in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Flower Alley came into his own last summer at Saratoga, with victories in the Grade 1 Travers and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy.
Pletcher said he hopes to use the Salvator as a prep for the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 5.
