INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Silent Name's reputation has soared since he arrived from France last winter.
Unbeaten in two U.S. starts, including the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita last month, he deserves to be mentioned among the nation's top turf milers.
Those wins have made Silent Name a top contender in Monday's $300,000 at Hollywood Park. But the way the race may unfold is a concern to trainer Gary Mandella.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Silver Train's upset of Lost in the Fog in last October's Breeders' Cup Sprint wasn't even 10 days old when trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was already thinking about the colt's primary objective for 2006.
"If he wins one race next year and it's the Met Mile, that would make everybody happy," Dutrow said last November.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Five months into the year, you'd think a leader would have emerged in the filly-mare grass division. Not this season.
Silver Cup won three stakes this winter at Santa Anita, then disappeared. In her absence, a disorderly cast will race for a $300,000 purse Monday at Hollywood Park in the Grade 1 Gamely Breeders' Cup Stakes. A 1 1/8-mile turf race, the Gamely is ripe for an upset. All eight starters have flaws, including favorites Argentina, Sharp Lisa, and Ticker Tape.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bai and Bai has been beating the odds throughout her racing career and will try to do it again Monday in the $100,000 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Oaks. The 1 1/16-mile turf race drew nine entrants.
Racing secretary Tom Doutrich put together a strong 10-race card Monday, which includes seven superfecta wagering opportunities.
Bai and Bai, a runner-up in her past two starts, will make her turf debut, but trainer Bill Delia has long felt that as a granddaughter of Lyphard she should like the surface.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cambiocorsa won her seventh consecutive race in Friday's restricted $80,600 Wishing Well Stakes at Hollywood Park. An attempt at an eighth straight win may come at the highest level.
Trainer Doug O'Neill said "we are thinking big" about Cambiocorsa's summer campaign, hoping that she receives an invitation to the $750,00 CashCall Mile on turf here on July 1.
The CashCall Mile, formerly known as the Royal Heroine Stakes, is an invitational expected to draw a strong field from around the world.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Honey Ryder ended her drought over Belmont Park's turf course on Saturday by running down a loose-on-the-lead Noble Stella to win the Grade 2, $150,000 by one length before a crowd of 6,782.
Noble Stella, who tried to steal the race under Mike Smith, held second by a neck over Angara. She was followed in the order of finish by Asi Siempre, Serendipitous, Latice, and Tisket a Tasket.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As the North American turf season begins to hit full tilt, there are more than a few good marathoners fairly crying out to strut their stuff.
The $100,000 Louisville Handicap, a Grade 3 fixture to be run Monday at Churchill Downs, seems a fair example of this. Among the six older horses set to run in the 1 3/8-mile turf race, several already have run a bang-up race or two this year, which, despite the light numbers, suggests the Louisville may have one of its best fields in years.
CHICAGO - No Tolerance just lost to a graded-stakes-class horse trained by Tom Proctor. Monday at Arlington, he could lose to another one.
Purim, who seems headed for bigger and better things this summer, beat No Tolerance by 3 1/4 lengths May 7 in the Avers Wexler Illinois Owners Stakes. Monday, in the $40,000 Mister Gus, a one-mile turf race, No Tolerance has to face Therecomesatiger, also trained by Proctor, and also, the way things stand now, a horse with a bright future.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As the fifth-leading rider in Churchill Downs history, Charlie Woods Jr. can claim many fond memories of his hometown track.
But until Woods rode Yankees Blast to a seven-length triumph in the 11th and final race here Friday evening, it had been four years since he had ridden a winner at Churchill. With longtime friends and family members excitedly watching, Woods drew a rousing ovation when he returned to the winner's circle aboard Yankees Blast.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - There are eight stakes winners, including Preachinatthebar, Cosmonaut, Texcess, and Real Dandy, in the field of 10 for Monday's Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap. But the starters of greatest interest might be the two members of the field who are stakes-placed, Magnum and Stockholder.
