BOSSIER CITY, La. - The first six-figure stakes of the Louisiana Downs meet will be held Saturday, with a field of five fillies and mares lining up in the $100,000 River Cities Breeders' Cup at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
High Pioneer, winner of the Fresa Stakes on the Lone Star turf this summer, could be a slight choice in the well-matched field.
A week after trainer Bart Evans won one of the richest stakes of the Retama Park meet with homebred Almost Certain, he will return to stakes action with the colt's half-brother, Wishingitwas, for Saturday night's $40,000 Chick Lang Jr. Memorial.
A one-mile race, the Lang is for open company, but the field of six is stocked with top Texas-bred stakes winners Agrivating General, Charming Socialite, and Oncearoundtwice, all of whom could be prepping for the $100,000 Texas Hall of Fame Stakes at Retama on Oct. 1.
Valliant Dancer leads a wide-open field of seven fillies and mares, including an entry, in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile, $40,000 Central Iowa Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Valliant Dancer is unraced since May 1, when she ran third, beaten five lengths, in a one-mile optional claiming event at Churchill Downs for trainer Carl Nafzger.
A 4-year-old daughter of Valiant Nature, Valliant Dancer has run very well off similar layoffs in the past. She is 3-3-3 from 12 career starts, with $121,355 in earnings.
The Niner Account will return to the main track Saturday night for the $40,000 Chuck Taliaferro Memorial at Remington Park. The last time he ran on dirt here, The Niner Account turned in one of his most memorable performances, scoring a nose win over stakes winner Joe Six Pack in an allowance at Lone Star Park on July 15. He covered the six furlongs in 1:08.60 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105, the second-best in his career, behind a 107.
FLORENCE, Ky. - The first North American program run over Polytrack went off without a hitch Wednesday night, when Turfway Park unveiled the revolutionary racing surface before a festive crowd and an appreciative group of jockeys and trainers.
Regal Reproach, a 13-1 shot under Inocencio Diego, won the first of nine races when coming from off the pace. Winners on the remainder of the program, which was conducted amid impeccable weather conditions, represented a mix of closers and speed horses, from both inside and outside paths, as well as favorites and longshots.
FLORENCE, Ky. - About a dozen Louisville-based trainers who did not participate in the first three programs of the Turfway Park fall meet have entered runners for Saturday, helping to produce easily the fullest fields and most attractive program of the meet thus far.
Tampa Bay Downs will offer a record $2.3 million in stakes during its 94-day 2005-06 meeting, which begins on Dec. 10. The Tampa, Fla., oval celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.
The Grade 3, $250,000 Tampa Bay Derby will again highlight the stakes schedule. It is one of four stakes to be offered on the March 18 Festival Day program, which will also include the Florida Oaks, the Grade 3 Hillsborough Stakes, and the Turf Dash.
The racing days are down to a precious few for Habiboo. Owner and trainer Amy Tarrant will retire Habiboo at the end of this season, leaving only a handful of races to go, including the $60,000 Lighthouse Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards Saturday at Monmouth Park.
A 4-year-old filly, Habiboo has run only five times this year, including a fifth in the Lady's Secret Stakes on Monmouth's Haskell Day undercard. She has battled some respiratory problems, and Tarrant is trying to send her off on a winning note.
During an eight-month stretch beginning last November, Sensibly Chic was a model of consistency, finishing first or second in all seven of her races.
That string was highlighted by a decisive victory as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap at Belmont Park in June.
It's the most recent line in Sensibly Chic's past performances, however, that causes a lot of head-scratching for handicappers. She finished last of six in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney at Calder.
Two horses who prefer to be close to the early pace and three others who do their best running coming from far back provide an intriguing puzzle for handicappers attempting to decipher Saturday's $100,000 Charles Hadry Stakes at Laurel Park.
Cherokee's Boy, already a three-time stakes winner this year, and Unforgettable Max, who has faced graded stakes horses in 4 of his last 5 races, figure to be prominent early in the one-mile Hadry.
