GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Horses trained by Cody Autrey came within a nose of sweeping all three feature races run last week at Lone Star Park. For the feature here Friday night, he will send out yet another contender in Bartok's Banco.
Cajole and Matty's Song racked up the featured allowances last Friday and Sunday. Corredor de Plata ran in the feature on Saturday, the $40,000 Nevill/Kyocera, and was second by a nose. Autrey also won an allowance on the Sunday undercard with Fantastic New Way.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Trainer Pat Mouton says it is time Venomous returned to his roots.
"He was bred in Texas but has never faced Texas-breds," said Mouton just days after the talented 4-year-old he trains for Gary and Don Holcomb picked up his first stakes score here last Saturday in the $50,000 Kings Court.
Mouton said he intends to run Venomous in the $75,000 Assault at Lone Star on July 8, then return to Louisiana Downs for the Folklore on July 29.
Owner-trainer Susan M. Fisher has been suspended 60 days and fined $250 by Thistledown stewards after her horse Baltic Maria, who won Thistledown's ninth race on April 21, tested positive for phenylpropanolamine, classified as a class 3 drug (out of five levels of classification) by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.
Class 3 drugs are those that may or may not have generally accepted medical uses. Phenylpropanolamine is used in prescription and over-the-counter drug products as a nasal or sinus decongestant.
CALGARY, Alberta - Shady Remark, the elder statesman of the backstretch here at Stampede Park, makes his 93rd career start on Friday evening in search of his 20th win. Shady Remark will face nine rivals in the fifth-race superfecta feature, a six-furlong sprint for $22,000 claimers, which is easily the best betting race on the card.
AUBURN, Wash. - Everybody likes to see a strong finisher do his thing, but too many deep closers in the same field can leave the door wide open for a front-runner who is able to control the pace.
Escalante appears to be in that position in Friday's Emerald Downs feature, a $25,000 optional claimer at a mile that has drawn a field of 10 older horses.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - A Friday entry-level allowance race at Arlington Park has attracted a refugee from the Triple Crown prep wars, High Blues, who will try to bounce back from a disappointing try in his turf debut last month when he starts in the featured eighth race.
The trainer Mark Shuman has started 107 horses so far this season, which by no means is small-time. But considering that Shuman won 521 races between the beginning of 2003 and the end of 2005, it seems fair to say that his station in the racing world has changed.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Dennis Patterson was so impressed with Doolledo after he upset the Patterson-trained Eliminator in a $20,000 maiden claiming race April 5 at Golden Gate Fields that he bought him.
"His only race, we ran the favorite, Eliminator," Patterson said. "My horse broke so fast, but this horse, about the third time he hit the ground, was gone."
Gold Storm's record-setting performance in last Saturday night's $75,000 Need for Speed Stakes at Evangeline Downs still has the locals buzzing, and may soon have national repercussions as well. Gold Storm's owner, Keith McKinney, says it is on to Calder and that track's summer highlight, the Summit of Speed, on July 15.
With five victories from his first 22 starts at this meeting, Trainer Justin Evans has made a quick impression on racing fans at Canterbury Park. Evans, 25, is a third generation horseman who began working on the Prescott Downs backstretch at the age of 14. Following stints working in the barns of Owen McDaniel and Darryl Alvey, Evans became a regular on the Turf Paradise-Yavapai circuit. He has sent out 336 winners since sending out his first starter in 1999.
