Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Shippers aim for Stallion Series

MIAMI - Running Lass and In Summation will attempt an unprecedented double sweep of the Florida Stallion Stakes when they start in the $400,000 My Dear Girl and In Reality Stakes on Oct. 15. The task will not be an easy one for either 2-year-old, though, with talented invaders expected to ship to town for both series finales.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

California transplants rematched

Following three top-level stakes last weekend, capped by the Hawthorne Gold Cup, the next stakes race at Hawthorne is not scheduled until Oct. 15. With allowances like the eighth race on Sunday filling race cards, the absence of stakes might not be badly missed.

Sunday's eighth race, a $32,000, second-level allowance, drew a full field of 12, including two horses, Kirkendahl and Wise Diplomat, who began their careers in Southern California. The six-furlong race runs through them.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Tight Circle steps up off claim

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Lloyd Mason was glad to welcome Tight Circle to his barn after claiming the 3-year-old filly for $20,000 from her U.S. debut on Sept. 18. She won that race, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint, by a head after stalking the pace, and Mason wheels her back quickly Sunday at Bay Meadows in a first-level allowance sprint at six furlongs. The British-bred Tight Circle has four opponents Sunday and will meet older for the first time.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Milburn makes a case for Saanichton

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lawyer Dave Milburn has won a lot of big cases in his career. He's also a trainer, and while he's been fairly successful, he has never won a major race. He's hoping that will change when he runs Saanichton in the $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity on Sunday.

"It's pretty simple," said Milburn. "The reason I've had more success in law is because I'm a lot better lawyer than I am a trainer."

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Washington-breds get a run at big money

AUBURN, Wash. - Six stakes worth a total of $250,000 are on Sunday's Washington Cup Day undercard, headed by the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic.

A total of 49 Washington-breds are entered in the seven stakes.

Sharing the top purse of $50,000 with the Classic is the 1 1/16-mile Belle Roberts Stakes, with a field of six fillies and mares.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

'McDuff' steps up once again

EDMONTON, Alberta - Lead On McDuff will seek his third straight victory, and fourth in five races, when he heads a field of seven $17,500 claimers sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs here at Northlands Sunday. This race, for 3-year-olds, will go as the third on a seven-race card.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Relocated Fair Grounds meet approved

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Friday took action to keep the state's racing calendar constant in the face of two hurricanes that, in less than one month, have temporarily shut down two of Louisiana's four racetracks. Hurricane Katrina struck Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Aug. 28, while Hurricane Rita crippled the stable area at Delta Downs in Vinton on Sept. 24.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Delaware 'certified' horses run for extra cash

EQUI-PHOTOS
Presidentialaffair (right) is expected to defend his title in the Maryland Million Classic.

Owners who brought their yearlings to Delaware two or three years ago will begin to reap the rewards of an incentive-based program Sunday when the first two stakes for "Delaware certified" Thoroughbreds are run at Delaware Park.

Nine colts and geldings and seven fillies - all of them ages 3 or 4 - will compete in a pair of $50,000 stakes at six furlongs.

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Unlucky 'Lenny' gives it another try

Michael Burns Photo Ltd.
Colorful Judgement (2) passes Lenny the Lender just before the wire in last year's Sky Classic.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Can Lenny the Lender finally get lucky in the Sky Classic?

Lenny the Lender, a 9-year-old gelding owned and trained by Richard Jukosky, has suffered very tough beats as the runner-up in the last two editions of the Grade 2 Sky Classic, a 1 3/8-mile turf handicap that will be run again here Sunday.

"He's run his best races, both years, in the Sky Classic," said Jukosky, who is based with Lenny the Lender at Fort Erie. "It would be a dream come true to see him win the race."

Fri, 09/30/2005 - 00:00

Lower-level races get purse hike

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Because of declining revenue from slots, the major source of the track's purses, Fort Erie will eliminate some stakes races and most allowance races next year, as well as some high-priced claimers, in order to increase the purses for low-end claiming races.