ARCADIA, Calif. - Winning a major stakes with Sharp Lisa is the goal this weekend for owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O'Neill. Staying away from Pussycat Doll is the second priority.
Sharp Lisa and Pussycat Doll are nominated for Saturday's $250,000 for older fillies and mares and Sunday's $200,000 La Canada Stakes for 4-year-old fillies.
As of Wednesday, they appear to be on different courses - Sharp Lisa for the Grade 1 Santa Maria and Pussycat Doll for the Grade 2 La Canada.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Nagging injuries have limited the 7-year-old Calkins Road to 19 starts in his career. Along the way, he has still earned $515,665, most of which was collected in 2002, when he won the Snow Chief Stakes and California Cup Classic.
Friday at Santa Anita, makes the second race of his latest comeback in a $65,000 allowance race at 1 1/16 miles.
Owned by Tom and Debbie Shapiro and trained by John Shirreffs, Calkins Road is winless in his last three starts, dating back to the Joseph Grace Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa in August 2004.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Cougar Cat has put together two impressive sprint wins and on Saturday will make his two-turn debut in the Grade 3, $100,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park.
A 4-year-old son of Storm Cat and millionaire Excellent Meeting, Cougar Cat has made just three starts in North America after beginning his career in Ireland with trainer Aidan O'Brien. He was purchased privately last year and sent to trainer Ronny Werner in Kentucky.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Prospective Kiss and Carroll County are old foes, and both will make their first start around two turns in a three-other-than allowance Friday at Oaklawn Park.
The one-mile race will begin and end at the sixteenth pole, as do all races at the distance here. The configuration should benefit both Prospective Kiss and Carroll County, two capable sprinters whose speed will have them in prominent positions during the short stretch run.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Steve Klesaris had plenty of reasons to get Phyllis Sassy Girl out of south Florida after her fifth-place performance in a second-level allowance race last month at Gulfstream Park.
Upon returning to New York, Phyllis Sassy Girl is running over an inner track she has an affinity for while racing for more money against weaker competition. She certainly seems to have landed in the right spot to clear the second-level allowance hurdle in Friday's feature at Aqueduct. The $47,000 purse is almost 25 percent more than she was running for at Gulfstream.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The last two Kentucky Derbies have been forgettable experiences for jockey Ramon Dominguez. Two years ago, he rode Wood Memorial winner Tapit to a ninth-place finish. Last year, Dominguez was aboard High Limit, who got stepped on during the running of the race and finished last.
Officials of the Maryland Jockey Club lifted a quarantine on Pimlico's horse population on Wednesday as scheduled, but lingering concerns about the outbreak of equine herpesvirus in Maryland are expected to continue to disrupt many tracks' racing schedules for at least a week.
ALBANY, Calif. - Sunday Dress appears the one to beat in Friday's Golden Gate Fields feature as she moves back to the main track.
, 4, made her turf and two-turn debut in her last start on Jan. 25 at Bay Meadows and was a lukewarm favorite coming off a maiden victory sprinting.
She sat just off Doctorinthenews in a 7 1/2-furlong grass race in her last start, took the lead in the lane, and couldn't withstand Mac Rhapsody's closing kick.
February is traditionally a chilly month in the mid-Atlantic region, but it has started out white hot for trainer Scott Lake.
In the first six days of racing this month, Lake's runners went 13 for 36 - a 36 percent clip - while showing a return on investment of $2.58.
The biggest chunk of Lake's action came at Laurel Park, where he went 8 for 15, with 80 percent of his horses in the money. Lake saddled three winners apiece in Maryland on both Feb. 2 and Feb. 4.
After finishing third in a second-level allowance race in February 2005, Devil's Mark steadily dropped in class until he reached the rock-bottom $4,000 claiming ranks at Philadelphia Park in November.
But ever since he was claimed that day by trainer Cynthia Reese, the old-timer has been enjoying a career revival.
Now 8, Devil's Mark has moved back up the class ladder, winning easily for a $12,500 claiming price on Jan. 23 and again against $20,000 claimers last Sunday.
