HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Take a field of 14 3-year-old fillies coming in off starts at 10 different racetracks, and you have a recipe for the most wide-open and unpredictable race on Saturday's Sunshine Millions card at Gulfstream Park, the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Oaks.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Ben Perkins Jr. and New Farm have enjoyed tremendous success with precocious, speed-oriented sprinters. Wild Jam was neither precocious nor speedy, but he has been successful nonetheless.
Saturday, the 5-year-old Wild Jam has the opportunity to win his biggest race to date when he meets six rivals in the $65,000 Paumonok Handicap at Aqueduct.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The $50,000 Dixie Belle will bolster the reputation of one of the 11 promising 3-year-old fillies in the six-furlong race at Oaklawn Park, because the winner will have defeated a deep, quick field Saturday.
, who start as separate interests for trainer Steve Asmussen, should vie for favoritism against the likes of stakes winners Jazzy Okie, Rich Fantasy, Love the Beach, and Gasia.
Even at age 11, Full Moon Madness has plenty of oomph and figures to be tough to handle Saturday, when he invades from Southern California to run in the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at Sunland Park. A five-furlong event, the Budweiser Handicap lured a full field of 12.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - A field of seven signed up for Sunday's 25th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 El Camino Real Derby.
Northern California's premier race for 3-year-olds, it will have six betting interests, counting the James McIngvale-owned, Tom Roberts-trained entry of Acolyte and Objective.
Topping in the field are A.P. Warrior, runner-up in the Grade 2 Norfolk at Oak Tree-Santa Anita last fall; Cause to Believe, winner of three stakes and runner-up in two others; and Wanna Runner, third in the Grade 2 San Rafael to Brother Derek and Stevie Wonderboy.
Trainer Daryn Charlton will find out whether either member of his entry of Jazzing Chad and Breakers is ready to move up in the Los Alamitos 870-yard division when they start in the $20,000 The Moonshiner Handicap on Saturday night.
Jazzing Chad is positioned to make that move after showing improvement in his two starts since returning from a layoff. In his comeback, Jazzing Chad had a troubled start in the 550-yard Paul Ford Handicap on Dec. 18 and was unable to recover, finishing nearly four lengths behind the sharp Gold Medal Jess.
Academy Award-winning actor Joe Pesci will be on hand at Gulfstream Park on Saturday to watch his aptly named 3-year-old filly Home Alona run in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Oaks.
Pesci, best known for his performances in the movies "Goodfellas," "Casino," "My Cousin Vinny," and "Home Alone," owns Home Alona in partnership with trainer Wesley Ward. Pesci has been wintering in Boca Raton, about 30 minutes from the track, and has already been out to the new Gulfstream Park several times this season.
Total all-sources handle on live races at the 2005 Golden Gate Fields fall meeting was $114,816,673, a daily average of $2,496,015 for the 46-day meeting, which ran Oct. 19-Dec. 19. Ontrack handle on live races averaged $230,961.
Golden Gate ran a 59-day winter meeting last season (Nov. 10, 2004, to Jan. 30, 2005), making it difficult to compare handle figures from year to year.
With wagering on simulcasts from other tracks mixed in, Golden Gate averaged $4 million a day last fall. During the 2004-05 winter meet, the track averaged about $4.4 million a day.
