LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In just a few short days, Neil Howard has seen enough from Quest Star to know one thing.
"What a classy old horse," said Howard, who only recently assumed the training of Quest Star, an earner of $876,904. "He's a lovely old campaigner."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The extended distance of Wednesday's seventh race at Hollywood Park is an ideal fit for Dalicia, a 5-year-old mare trained by Neil Drysdale.
Dalicia won the Group 3 Spreti-Rennen against males at about 1 1/4 miles on turf at Baden-Baden, Germany, last August and competes at 1 1/4 miles on turf against just four rivals in an optional claimer at Hollywood Park on Wednesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It looks as if everybody who wanted into the Kentucky Oaks is going to make it. Two fillies from a list of 16 hopefuls dropped from contention over the weekend, leaving precisely the Oaks limit of 14.
Ready to Please, the Fantasy Stakes winner trained by Todd Pletcher, and Press Camp, based in northern California with Billy Morey, are the defectors, allowing Ermine and Red Cherries Spin to make the prospective Oaks lineup. Entries for the 132nd Oaks, which will be run Friday at Churchill Downs, were to be drawn Tuesday.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Bob Baffert said Preachinatthebar is starting to take after his old man. A son of the Baffert-trained Silver Charm, Preachinatthebar won his second straight graded stakes race on Saturday, when he showed grit as a neck winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park.
One start prior, the horse won the Grade 3 Tokyo City Handicap at Santa Anita.
"Preachinatthebar ran awesome," Baffert said of the Texas Mile. "He's getting a lot like his father. He's starting to fight, so that's good."
Funny Cide gave his backers some anxious moments in the stretch, but came again late to win Sunday's $65,875 Kings Point Handicap by three-quarters of a length over second choice Gold and Roses.
It was the first victory for the 6-year-old Funny Cide since the Jockey Club Gold Cup in October 2004, and his first appearance in a New York-bred race since the fall of his juvenile campaign.
Hey Slick showed plenty of heart to capture Saturday's $57,600 Arizona Breeders' Derby, the marquee event on Arizona Breeders Day at Turf Paradise on a day that saw five stakes for Arizona-breds.
Ridden by Scott Stevens, Hey Slick, the 6-5 second choice, lagged early, made a strong run to make the lead entering the lane, dispatched Captain Strider, and then had to fight off favored Corporal Tillman to win by a head. Hey Slick covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.29 and paid $4.40. Corporal Tillman was second, with Captain Strider over three lengths back in third.
Trainer Bob Baffert began Derby Week at Churchill Downs on a positive note when Record ($12.20) shipped in from California and captured the $114,939 by a neck from 54-1 longshot Spotsgone.
Mister Triester finished third, another 2 1/4 lengths back, with Dawn of War fourth in the field of seven. Noonmark, the 9-5 favorite, finished sixth. Protagonus, the 2-1 second choice, fractured sesamoids in his right front ankle midway on the far turn and was was scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday morning.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There was a different look to the stakes winner's circle in the infield following Summer Girlfriend's success in Sunday's $125,400 Star Shoot here at Woodbine.
Trainer John Charalambous had last made the trek over to the charmed circle after Countess Steffi captured the Ontario Fashion on Nov. 4, 1995, and he was ecstatic in the wake of Summer Girlfriend's win.
But the trainer's reaction almost paled when compared to that of Allen Abbott, who owns Summer Girlfriend under his nom du course, Equilease Racing Stable.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It's Outta Here will try to hit a home run in Wednesday's featured fifth race, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance for fillies and mares.
The eight-race card is the first Wednesday evening program of the Woodbine meeting, and post time is 6:50 p.m.
It's Outta Here, a 4-year-old filly trained by Mike Doyle, won 1 of 7 outings and $66,256 in 2005. She overcame a troubled trip with an eye-catching wide bid to capture a five-furlong maiden special last spring in her second start.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The scene surrounding A. P. Warrior's workout at Hollywood Park on Sunday was a far cry from that at Churchill Downs, where the colt will start in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
There were no crowds of media or well-wishers and none of the commotion of a track preparing for the biggest weekend of the year.
