Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Pussycat Doll moves way up in track switch

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The cancellation of grass racing this fall at Hollywood Park has transformed the filly Pussycat Doll from a fringe player to a potential standout Sunday in the $60,000 Audrey Skirball-Kenis Stakes.

Originally scheduled at 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies, the conditions of the Skirball-Kenis were changed to 1 1/16 miles on dirt. It is right up Pussycat Doll's alley. Based on her four-length stakes win Sept. 3 at Del Mar, she should be favored Sunday.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Taste of Paradise retired at 6

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Taste of Paradise, winning the Vosburgh, won 6 of 28 starts.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Taste of Paradise, who made a late-season bid for the sprint championship with a victory in the Vosburgh Stakes and then an unlucky second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, will not get another chance to polish his resume. His trainer, Gary Mandella, on Friday said that Taste of Paradise had developed a problem with the tendon in his left front leg and was retired.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

'Disaster' out to reclaim stakes form

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Master of Disaster, an early-season sensation, looks to fulfill that promise Sunday in the $75,000 Huntington Stakes for 2-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Based on his prior stakes experience, Master of Disaster figures to be the favorite in a field of seven juveniles going six furlongs.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

House Party gets tough group

Horsephotos
Instead of running Smuggler in the Grade 2 Top Flight on Nov. 25, trainer Shug McGaughey will stick to his original plan and wait for next year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The $65,000 House Party stakes, the supporting feature at six furlongs Sunday at Aqueduct, attracted a field of seven fillies and mares with extensive graded-stakes experience. Bank Audit and Ebony Breeze should be the two top choices.

Bank Audit won a pair of Grade 2 handicaps in the spring, the Distaff Breeders' Cup at the Big A and the Genuine Risk at Belmont Park.

Ebony Breeze was second in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga and third in the Grade 3 Endine Handicap at Delaware Park in her last two outings.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Last dance for Pampered Princess

MIAMI - Pampered Princess was forced to pass the Breeders' Cup Distaff after contracting a sinus infection a week before the race. But trainer Marty Wolfson will have one last chance to run Pampered Princess before she is retired to the breeding shed when she returns to Kentucky on Thanksgiving Day for Churchill Downs's Grade 2, $300,000 Falls City Handicap.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Tepexpan looks to ride inside bias

CHICAGO - It has been suggested that a prevailing inside bias has recently existed on the main track at Hawthorne Race Course, and if there is truth to that suggestion, is the horse for the featured first race here on Sunday.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Pierce filly set to win first stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Charming Ruckus, trained by Malcolm Pierce, appears to have found a spot for her first stakes victory in Sunday's $167,250 Jammed Lovely here at Woodbine.

The Jammed Lovely, a seven-furlong race for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies, attracted a field of 10. Charming Ruckus should rule the choice under regular rider Todd Kabel.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Weight may be the key factor

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Weight could play a big role in who wins the featured race at Hastings on Sunday. The 1 1/16-mile allowance race for 3-year-olds and up that haven't won a stakes race in 2005 drew nine horses and goes as the eighth race.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

California invader looks best

PORTLAND, Ore. - Statebred Quarter Horses are in the spotlight on Sunday when a field of 10 contests the $10,000-added Oregon-bred Juvenile at 400 yards.

Fri, 11/11/2005 - 00:00

Plate's the goal for Thinking Out Loud

Michael Burns
Estevan, here winning the Labeeb, will be heading to Santa Anita with trainer Josie Carroll.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Coronation Futurity may have been run four days late, but it wasn't even one dollar short in terms of entertainment value as Thinking Out Loud prevailed in a thrilling three-horse finish here at Woodbine on Thursday.