HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Paul McGee has been itching to stretch Honor in War out beyond 1 1/4 miles for several years, but the circumstances were just never right to make the move. The opportunity finally arises at Gulfstream Park on Sunday, when Honor in War will be among the favorites in the $75,000 Mac Diarmida Handicap, a Grade 3 race at 1 3/8 miles on the turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - While this weekend's Sunshine Millions program might be more cash than substance, next Saturday's Spectacular Saturday II card will feature some of the most important races of the meet.
The Grade 1 Donn Handicap is the highlight of the card, which features six stakes. The card also includes the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 2 Hutcheson for 3-year-olds, many of whom have aspirations for bigger and better things down the road, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 1.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Eoin Harty has always considered A.P. Warrior a Kentucky Derby candidate.
A $1.3 million yearling purchase, A.P. Warrior can begin his Kentucky Derby trek Sunday in Grade 3, $250,000 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows. The El Camino is a legitimate test for A.P. Warrior or any of the other six runners entered in the 1 1/16-mile race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The first half of Aqueduct's inner-track meet ends the same way it began, with a New York-bred overnight stakes serving as the main event on a nine-race card. Carminooch, who won the Gander Stakes by seven lengths over the inner track on opening day, will try to rebound Sunday from a third-place finish as the favorite in the Alex M. Robb last month.
A field of nine was entered for the $60,000 Mellow Roll, run at one mile. The Mellow Roll shares top billing with the $60,000 Oxford Scholar for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
PORTLAND, Ore. - La Kangura will head a field of nine 3-year-old Oregon-bred Quarter Horses in Sunday's The Memorial, a 350-yard race with a purse of $6,000 at Portland Meadows.
La Kangura was an easy winner of the $21,000 Northwest Futurity on Nov. 6. Though she was dismissed at 24-1 in that open stakes, La Kangura assumed the lead at the start and drew out to win by two lengths over Time to Fly Strait in 20.47 seconds for 400 yards. Though she has been away almost three months, La Kangura worked 220 yards in a bullet 11.76 here on Jan. 8 and appears ready for a top try.
Colonial Downs has beefed up the purses of two of its biggest races to create a pair of $1 million turf stakes this season.
The million dollar races are the Virginia Derby, which received a $250,000 purse increase and was upgraded to Grade 2 status, and the Colonial Turf Cup, which was doubled in value. Those two races account for nearly two-thirds of the entire 2006 stakes package of $3.23 million at Colonial Downs.
Mountaineer Race Track, with permission from the West Virginia Racing Commission, has lifted its ban on Kentucky shippers, effective with the Monday racing program. The ban had been in place for several weeks in the aftermath of an equine herpesvirus outbreak at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Horses shipping from Kentucky must meet several stringent criteria, including current herpesvirus vaccinations within a 10- to 90-day window, said Rose Mary Williams, director of racing at Mountaineer in Chester, W.Va.
The mutuel field, the "all others" alternative to the 23 separately listed wagering options, continued as a decisive favorite Friday in Pool 1 of the 2006 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
As of 4:50 p.m. Eastern, and with the handle standing at $84,562, the field was the even-money favorite, followed by Stevie Wonderboy and First Samurai, both at 11-1. Real-time odds are available on kentuckyderby.com.
Final odds will be set with the close of wagering on Sunday at 6 p.m.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After three convincing wins in New York against suspect company to begin her career, Pool Land could be headed to Oaklawn Park to make her graded stakes debut in the Grade 3, $175,000 Azeri Breeders' Cup on March 11. If she runs in that spot, it is possible she would meet Round Pond, winner of last summer's Grade 1 Acorn.
Pool Land, a 4-year-old daughter of Silver Deputy trained by Todd Pletcher, made it 3 for 3 with a seven-length victory in last Sunday's Summer Colony Stakes here. Her three wins have come by a combined margin of 17 3/4 lengths.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - For a 3-year-old who has won his last three starts by 27 1/2 lengths - punctuated by a Beyer Speed Figure of 106 - Lawyer Ron has held his flesh quite well, is quite fresh, and remains quite on target for the $250,000 Southwest after breezing five furlongs in 1:00.40 at his Oaklawn Park base Friday.
The move was the second-fastest of 48 at the distance, and he galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.16 in his first work since his stirring win in the Grade 3 Risen Star at the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs on Jan. 14.
