SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Woodlander has improved greatly since switching from dirt to turf earlier this year, as evidenced by a victory in the Grade 3 Lexington at Belmont July 10. He will attempt to extend his win streak to four on Sunday at Saratoga in the Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac for 3-year-olds on the grass.
, sent out by trainer Tom Albertrani for owner Darley Stable, leads a field of 10 in the Saranac, race 10 on an 11-race card. The Saranac will be run at 1 3/16 miles.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Smuggler, winner of the Coaching Club Oaks and Mother Goose, will be out the rest of the year, trainer Shug McGaughey said Friday.
Smuggler, owned by the Phipps Stable, missed the Grade 1 Alabama here Aug. 20 because of a high temperature, and McGaughey said she still has a recurring fever. Smuggler was shipped from Saratoga to the Phipps farm in Kentucky on Thursday.
It's fairly common in harness racing for the racing secretary to assign the best horses to the far outside post positions in an attempt to create a more competitive race. That's not how it works in Thoroughbred racing, but it is how Lady Luck treated the two favorites on the track's morning line for Monday's $750,000 .
Sun King and Real Dandy drew the two outside stalls in Philadelphia Park's starting gate for the Grade 2 derby.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Washington invader A Classic Life heads a full field of 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 3, $150,000 Breeders' Cup Oaks at Hastings Sunday. After the Knight appears to be the leading contender among the locally based horses, but contention runs throughout the field and it's anyone's race.
DM Shicago will be a strong favorite to become the third horse to sweep the three Grade 1 derbies at Ruidoso Downs in the $819,388 All American Derby on Sunday.
DM Shicago has made each of his 10 starts at Ruidoso and has six wins, including three Grade 1 stakes, and earnings of $1,401,389. His best distance is 440 yards, which makes him a perfect fit for the All American Derby. In addition, DM Shicago seems to be in peak form.
MIAMI - Trainer Larry Bates is hoping what started out to be a rough week will get a lot better on Sunday, when he sends out Ragtime Hope as one of the favorites in the $40,000 Ravolia Stakes on the turf.
Bates was still shook up long after a training-hour mishap resulted in jockey Jose Bello breaking ankle while aboard an unraced 2-year-old named Batesee here Tuesday morning.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Power Wave, winner of his first four starts before injuring his knee in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue in November, will begin his comeback in Sunday's $70,000 Earlene McCabe Derby at Bay Meadows.
Sidelined nine months, Power Wave has earned bullets in his past four works.
"Hopefully, he'll be ready to kick butt, but I would have liked to get one more work into him," said trainer Michael Lenzini.
AUBURN, Wash. - The stage is set for an extraordinarily competitive renewal of the $100,000 Emerald Breeders' Cup Derby, which will be run Monday at 1 1/8 miles.
With no California invaders to scare away the locals, a full field of 12 is expected. Of those 12, only four have won a stakes and none has won more than a single one.
Happy Ticket might not be the only Louisiana Downs-based filly to ship to New York and win a Grade 1 during the current meet. Mykindasaint, who ran her career record to 3 for 3 with her win in last month's $50,000 Princess, could make her next start in the Grade 1 Matron at Belmont Park, said her trainer, Bubba Cascio.
Mykindasaint romped by five lengths in the Princess at Louisiana Downs on Aug. 28. She won her maiden at Lone Star Park on May 25 and won the $75,000 Cassidy Stakes at Calder Race Course on July 10.
