Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Outside post has Autrey wavering

Premier Dance will be favored in Friday night's $75,000 MEC Mile for 2-year-olds at Remington Park - if he runs.

Premier Dance drew post 12 for the race, and as a result his status was fluid as of Wednesday. A winner of stakes in his last three starts, he has long been pointed for his two-turn debut in the MEC.

But it might not happen. His trainer, Cody Autrey, said he is discussing with the horse's owner, Charles Fletcher, whether to scratch Premier Dance. Premier Dance has been training at Remington since Tuesday.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Cosmic Kris good by association

CHICAGO - The Hawthorne Derby winner Gun Salute, it turns out, is going on to the Breeders' Cup Turf if his pre-entry in the race means anything. That fact alone should speak highly of the 3-year-old grass horse Cosmic Kris, who came within a neck of beating Gun Salute last Saturday at Hawthorne.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Mighty Invictus has shot at first stakes win

Mighty Invictus, who has qualified for six Grade 1 events, is well positioned for his first stakes win in the Grade 1, $147,000 Dash for Cash Derby on Friday night at Lone Star Park.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Bad-trip Moon Dazzle returns

ELMONT, N.Y. - Moon Dazzle, who has been on every trip handicapper's Stable Mail list for the past month, makes her second U.S. start and looms the one to beat in Friday's eighth race.

Scheduled for one mile on the Widener turf course, the $48,000 second-level allowance drew nine turf-meant fillies and mares, along with two entered for the main track only.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Distance suits Orma Giusta

ARCADIA, Calif. - A Group 2 winner in Brazil last year, Orma Giusta arrived in this country this year with high expectations.

So far, she has done nothing to dash those hopes.

Friday, Orma Giusta makes her second U.S. start in a $49,000 allowance race at Santa Anita.

is the likely favorite against five rivals in the allowance race, at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Last month, she finished third in a one-mile race at Bay Meadows, rallying to miss by three-quarters of a length despite encountering traffic in early stretch.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Baze falls, but gets up once again

Benoit & Associates
Tyler Baze is booked to ride in California on Breeders' Cup Day.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Tyler Baze escaped injury in the first race Wednesday, when he was thrown from Pink Halo shortly after the start of the race over 6 1/2 furlongs for maiden claimers.

Racing on the rail, Pink Halo ducked to the inside leaving the chute and crashed into a temporary rail. Baze fell heavily but quickly rose to his feet. Pink Halo did not appear to be injured. She did not fall after unseating Baze and continued to run around the track.

Baze rode the remainder of his mounts Wednesday.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

The claim that keeps on giving

ALBANY, Calif. - Donna Elordi had more than the usual trepidation when she claimed the 5-year-old mare Royal Kleven for herself and retired trainer Len Shoemaker. Elordi beat out a remarkable 15 others when she took Royal Kleven for $20,000 out of a second-place finish in a Bay Meadows sprint in April.

When it was over, Elordi emerged stunned that she had beaten the odds and hoping she could do justice to what seemed like a big break.

"[Trainer] Gil Matos said when I won the shake that it was meant to be and that I'd win a lot of money with her," Elordi said.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Change in plans for Asi Siempre

Four-Footed Fotos
Asi Siempre, winning an allowance under Gary Stevens Oct. 7, will run in the Valley View instead of the E.P. Taylor.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The way Asi Siempre galloped to victory on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet, no one could blame trainer Patrick Biancone for thoughts of grandeur. Biancone said soon afterward that Asi Siempre would run next in the Grade 1, $1 million E.P. Taylor at Woodbine on Saturday, but when the entries came out for Friday's $125,000 Valley View Stakes here, there was Asi Siempre heading the list.

"We changed our minds," said Biancone.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Golden Rainbow can handle any pace

The pace of Friday night's $150,000 Oklahoma Derby might be somewhat unpredictable with four of the 10 horses in the field making blinker changes, but one starter who seems capable of adapting to whatever scenario develops is Golden Rainbow.

He invades from Delaware Park for the marquee race of the Remington Park season, where he will meet Real Dandy, winner of the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby in August.

Wed, 10/19/2005 - 00:00

Delta Princess stands out

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - All signs point to Delta Princess in the Grade 3, $150,000 Violet Stakes Friday night at The Meadowlands Racetrack.

A 6-year-old mare trained by Bill Mott, Delta Princess will be a deservedly strong favorite in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares.

She was entered in the Grade 3 Athenia Handicap on Oct. 15 at Belmont Park but scratched when it came off the turf. Fortunate Damsel, Natalie Beach, and Sharp Needle also landed here following the surface switch in the Athenia.