EDMONTON, Alberta - Rickey Walcott, the meet's leading rider, will be looking for the upset when he rides Howsitgoin in Friday's $50,000 3-year-old filly Sale Stakes here at Northlands Park. Howsitigoin will face four rivals in the one-mile feature.
Speedy Gone Sally looms the horse to beat. Speedy Gone Sally, ridden by Perry Winters, has been competitive with the best in her division. Saucy Ciano, R Lucinda, and Glenora round out the field.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Patrick Biancone doesn't know whether to pray for rain this weekend or hope the warm, dry conditions remain intact. Biancone has two fillies to run in a pair of Grade 1 turf stakes this weekend at Belmont Park, each of whom has shown a preference for a particular type of ground.
Angara, who is nominated to Saturday's $500,000 Man o' War against males, would prefer turf with some give in it. Asi Siempre, who is being pointed to Saturday's $300,000 Garden City Breeders' Cup for 3-year-old fillies, likes it firm.
Bay Meadows has added a new $100,000 sprint stakes to its fall schedule, which would give undefeated Lost in the Fog a possible prep race for the Breeders' Cup.
The Bay Meadows Speed Handicap will be run on Oct. 1, four weeks before the Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park. The six-furlong race is for 3-year-olds and up and would be Lost in the Fog's first race against older runners.
"I'm very happy this race has come about," said Lost in the Fog's trainer, Greg Gilchrist. "It would definitely fit into our schedule well. I'd have to say we're very interested."
The Hot Springs, Ark., city council on Tuesday night set Nov. 8 as the date for a local referendum asking residents to decide if new electronic gaming machines can be added to the wagering lineup at Oaklawn Park.
The type of machines will be defined by the Arkansas Racing Commission, and they will be different than the Instant Racing machines already in place at the track, said Terry Wallace, spokesman for Oaklawn.
This spring, the Arkansas legislature passed a bill that enabled Oaklawn to petition Hot Springs for a vote on expanded gaming.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Perfect Drift figures to be heavily favored when he makes his next start in the Hawthorne Gold Cup on Sept. 24. He might scare off the one-time maiden-claimer Lord of the Game, but another good Chicago-based horse, Nkosi Reigns, is pointing for the Gold Cup, Perfect Drift or no.
"That's the plan," said trainer Christine Janks.
AUBURN, Wash. - Alexandersrun came to trainer Tim McCanna's barn ready to run in last month's Seattle Slew Handicap, and run he did, winning by a neck in a rapid 1:41.60 for the 1 1/16 miles.
The trainer figured all he needed to do was to keep Alexandersrun on an even keel for the month preceding Monday's $100,000 , but he feared he was botching the assignment.
"He was real quiet before his last race, and he wasn't quite the same for this one," said McCanna. "I was worried that I had changed him."
Jess Genuine goes after her fifth straight victory and second in a Grade 1 race in the $351,900 Sam Houston Futurity on Friday night at Sam Houston Race Park.
On Saturday night, fastest qualifier Si Puede brings a five-race winning streak into the Grade 1, $111,400 Sam Houston Derby.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The theme of the Friday evening card will be reunions.
, winner of the 2001 Golden Gate Derby and El Camino Real Derby, will make his first start since being claimed on May 27, 2004, by his original owner, RL Stables.
Also entered is Swen, re-claimed in his last start by trainer Steve Specht.
may be the one to beat. Five of his seven victories have come at Bay Meadows, including his past four starts here. He has drawn the outside post in the field of six entered in the $32,000 claimer at six furlongs.
Happy Ticket is getting a breather. Her goal all season was to snag a Grade 1, and she accomplished that task in her first attempt Aug. 28, when she won the $250,000 at Saratoga.
The win improved Happy Ticket's career record to 10 for 11, and has provided some solace for trainer Andrew Leggio, who has watched his hometown of New Orleans suffer at the hands of Hurricane Katrina.
POMONA, Calif. - Despite a reputation as a sprinter, Beau Soleil may be pointed toward the 1 1/8-mile Ralph M. Hinds Handicap on Sept. 25 at Fairplex Park. The $100,000 race, formerly known as the Pomona Invitational Handicap, is the biggest of the Los Angeles County Fair meet, and the ease with which Beau Soleil rolled through the tight Fairplex Park turns Wednesday morning suggests he may be able to carry his speed.
