OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Strummer and Sunshine Alpine have impressed as two of the better 3-year-old sprinters on the grounds at Aqueduct this winter. Saturday, they will face off for the first - and most likely last - time in the $65,000 Fred "Cappy" Capossela Stakes.
in distance, but Sunshine Alpine was sold this week and the new owner, Joseph Kowal, wants to run in this race before most likely shipping him to California, where Kowal is based.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - There are no easy answers in the $50,000 Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares that drew a host of stakes winners, including Private Gift, La Reason, Culinary, Platinum Ballet, and Ballroom Deputy.
could go favored in the eight-horse field following her 2 1/4-length win over some of these last out in the $75,000 Truly Bound Breeders' Cup Handicap at the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs on Dec. 24. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95, which is the highest last-race number in the Pippin.
The $125,000 Two Altazano division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on Saturday night will be the first two-turn start for most of 3-year-old fillies in the field, including Kathy's Rocket, who gets strong pedigree support for the distance demands. She is a daughter of the Seattle Slew stallion Gold Legend.
"I think she has a very good pedigree for two turns, especially the flat-mile type," said W.T. Howard, who trains Kathy's Rocket.
Missy Can Do returns quickly on the heels of her win against mares in last week's Bold Accent Stakes to take on the boys at Fonner Park in the $10,000 Grasmick Stakes at four furlongs.
Missy Can Do's biggest obstacle may well be the weather, with the forecast calling for a high in the low teens as winter conditions have made a rare appearance here this season.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bob Holthus has developed some good 3-year-olds in his more than 52 years of racing at Oaklawn Park, among them Proper Reality and Greater Good. This year, he has one of the country's best 3-year-olds in Lawyer Ron, who on Monday will bid to give Holthus his fifth win in the Southwest Stakes.
Boosted in value from $100,000 to $250,000 this year, the one-mile Southwest is the first step on the road to the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
ALBANY, Calif. - Carthage ($5.80) sat off the early pace of Jeffries Bay before pulling clear in the lane to capture the $41,100 at Golden Gate Fields on Wednesday.
A wire-to-wire winner in his past two starts, including the San Carlos Handicap at Bay Meadows on Jan. 14, Carthage was content to sit behind Jeffries Bay through a 21.14 opening quarter. He put his head in front after covering the opening half in 43.28 and opened through the lane, defeating Court's in Session by four lengths in 1:08.27. The favored entry of Halo Cat and Jeffries Bay finished third and fourth.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Steppenwolfer and Travelin Leroy put in their final works on Wednesday morning for the $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The colts are among the eight early probables for Monday's one-mile Southwest, which is headed by Grade 3 winner .
, who won the allowance prep for the Southwest on Feb. 3, breezed a half-mile in 48.80 seconds after the renovation break on Wednesday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With the $75,000 China Doll Stakes three weeks away, races such as Friday's $50,000 optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies on turf have an added significance.
Beginning with the China Doll Stakes, there are turf stakes scheduled regularly in Southern California until the fall, a calendar highlighted by the $750,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park in July and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in August.
Some of the fillies starting on Friday could start in those stakes, but must first show they belong. Some have careers that are off to excellent starts.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Richard Mandella will steer Congrats in a different direction in 2006.
"Last year I was running him in all the classics," Mandella said. "This year I want to experiment a bit with one turn and see how he does."
Congrats finished second last year in the Santa Anita Handicap, fifth in the Dubai World Cup, third in the Hollywood Gold Cup, and, finally, eighth in the Pacific Classic. That was on Aug. 21, his last start.
"I think he was a tired horse last year," Mandella said.
