Prairie Meadows concluded its 48-day mixed meeting Saturday with total handle dropping 5.6 percent from the corresponding 47-day meeting in 2004, according to preliminary figures.
The average total daily handle on Prairie Meadows races at the meet was $447,582, down from $474,015 in 2004. Ontrack handle was $59,034 per day, up nearly 2 percent from last year, but offtrack handle was down more than 7 percent from 2004's $416,039 average daily total.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - For the second straight Sunday, Danny Dion's Bear Stables struck paydirt in a 2-year-old stakes here at Woodbine.
Last week it was Bear's Kid, pulling off a surprising victory in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes in his first start for local trainer Reade Baker. This time, the bear of the hour was Bear Character, who won the seven-furlong Swynford in an upset for his Alberta-based trainer Dale Greenwood. Jim McAleney rode both winners.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine has put on some fine racing throughout September, but there are no legitimate feature races on Wednesday's eight-race card.
There are, however, several intriguing maiden special weight events for 2-year-olds, including the first, which is scheduled for a mile on the grass.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Wednesday's racing at Suffolk Downs has been canceled to allow the region's horsemen and track employees to rally at the State House and testify before a joint legislative committee holding hearings on allowing slot machines at Massachusetts racetracks.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - If it were an early-season college basketball tournament, Saturday's $100,000 Bay Meadows Speed Handicap would be called the Lost in the Fog Invitational.
You know the kind of tournament - the host and the invited cupcakes.
On paper, that's what this final prep before the Oct. 29 Breeders' Cup Sprint appears to be, but 14 other runners were nominated for the race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Alberta invader Bear Character, the second-longest shot in the four-horse field, caught front-running Ballado Dancer in deep stretch to capture Sunday's $132,750 Swynford Stakes at Woodbine.
Jockey Patrick Husbands put Ballado Dancer on the lead after the start of the seven-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, and they set moderate fractions while being pressed by Run Justin Run.
Zee Oh Six controlled the pace throughout to record a dominant, three and a quarter length win in the $75,000 Oklahoma Classics Day Classic on Saturday night at Remington Park. The race was the richest of seven stakes for eligible Oklahoma-breds on the annual Oklahoma Classics Day program, and total purses for the series was $315,000.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Exceeding ($27.20) won his third straight start since a 21-month layoff for a suspensory problem, scoring a wire-to-wire victory in the California Turf Sprint Championship Handicap at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Making his first turf start, the son of In Excess broke well and outdueled Greenie for the early lead. He opened in the stretch as Greenie faded and was opening on runner-up Bonfante and stablemate McManus in the lane. He won the five-furlong turf race by two lengths in 56.84 seconds.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The two longest shots in the race, Spaghetti Mouse and Bull Ranch, finished first and second and triggered huge exacta and triactor payoffs in the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby at Hastings Saturday.
Spaghetti Mouse, with David Wilson aboard, stalked the early pace from along the rail and then took control of the race at the top of the stretch, drawing off to a 3 1/2 length victory over Bull Ranch.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Hard rain turned the Hawthorne racetrack into a sea of mud, the sloppy racing surface turned the into a battle of front-runners, and Super Frolic turned in the race of his life, bouncing back from a fifth-place finish in the Pacific Classic to win the $750,000 Gold Cup by a head over a stubborn Lord of the Game.
Desert Boom, who set the pace while feeling pressure from Lord of the Game and Super Frolic, held on for third, with heavily favored Perfect Drift floundering home fourth.
