The old-timer Ask the Lord will attempt to turn back the clock when he ships in from Kentucky for the $75,000 Slipton Fell Handicap at Mountaineer.
Now 9, Ask the Lord won the 2004 edition of the mile and 70-yard Slipton Fell by a length with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. He has lost 11 stakes races since then, however, and his Beyers have declined by roughly 20 points in two starts since he finished a close second in the Tejano Run at Turfway Park in March.
Barring a slew of scratches, a trainer other than Scott Lake will win a stakes at Charles Town.
Lake has swept all five stakes run this season at the West Virginia oval and has Morine's Victory entered for this weekend's $50,000 Cortan at seven furlongs. Morine's Victory is stuck on the also-eligible list, along with two-time West Virginia Breeders Classic winner Confucius Say. To run, Lake's horse would need at least three horses to scratch to get into the 10-horse field.
The deep closer Vanna's Honeybear and Unison Moon come into the Cortan in sharp form.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $500,000 Woodbine Oaks will be in the spotlight here Sunday, and that means the $1 million Queen's Plate is just two weeks away.
And the June 25 Queen's Plate, a 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, may have gained a new player on Wednesday night when Stormkick was an impressive winner of a "B" maiden race for trainer Mike Doyle and the Hendrie Stable.
"He's a very serious possibility for the Plate," said Doyle.
Check This Runner and Corona Deluxe, the second- and third-place finishers in the Grade 1 Kindergarten, return in the trials to the Grade 1, $1 million Ed Burke Futurity on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.
Check This Runner is still a maiden after three 300-yard starts, but his late-running style should help him at the 350-yard distance of the Burke trials. He closed strongly to finish third in his Kindergarten trial and used the same tactics to finish second in the Kindergarten, three-quarters of a length behind winner Vachetta.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Like a Gem, who is coming off a second-place finish in the seven-furlong Fury Stakes here May 7, drew post 4 and has been installed as a lukewarm 5-2 morning-line favorite for Sunday's $500,000 Woodbine Oaks.
A field of 10 was announced for the 51st running of the Woodbine Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, at the ceremonial draw here Thursday.
Seductively, a front-running winner of the 1 1/16-mile Selene Stakes here last time out, has drawn post 6 and is the morning-line second choice at 3-1.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arch Hall, the leading older router at Woodbine, should be the prohibitive favorite in Saturday's $125,000 Steady Growth Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile test for Ontario-sired runners. Arch Hall is one of many Melnyk Racing Stable-owned offspring of the late Archers Bay, who captured the 1998 Queen's Plate for Eugene Melnyk.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - While juggling three occupations Bruce Anderson has been thriving as a trainer this year.
Anderson, also a blacksmith and rodeo rider, has scored 4 times from 10 starts this year. He is 1 for 3 at Woodbine and 3 for 7 at Fort Erie.
Anderson, and his wife, Francine Villeneuve, Canada's all-time leading female jockey, prepare their runners on their Florida farm during the winter. To further conditioning, they occasionally run a horse at Tampa Bay Downs, where Anderson has been a longtime farrier. He does the same trade at the Fort Erie meet.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Monashee, who was the 2005 local horse of the year, figures to be very tough to handle when she makes her second start of the year in the Strawberry Morn Stakes at Hastings Saturday. Slewpast looks like the main threat in the 1 1/16-mile feature, which drew seven fillies and mares.
Trained by Tracy McCarthy, Monashee stretches out following a strong second-place finish to
CALGARY, Alberta - Wild Bender is 2 for 2 at the 1 1/16-mile distance of Saturday's Duchess of York and should go postward as the favorite here at Stampede Park. The Duchess of York offers a purse of $50,000 plus $20,000 in bonus money for Alberta-breds.
AUBURN, Wash. - Diamond Dollars, who was nominated to take on older fillies and mares in Sunday's 6 1/2-furlong Washington State Legislators Handicap, will instead meet her peers in Saturday's best race at Emerald Downs. Diamond Dollars will face five other 3-year-old fillies in a one-mile test to be run under $40,000 optional claiming conditions.
"I have no doubt that she would have run very well against the older horses, but I'm anxious to see if she can route," said trainer Bill Tollett. "I have a pretty good idea that she can."