It seems a dime can still buy more than a gumball. On Wednesday, opening day at Ellis Park, two winning 10-cent superfecta tickets in race 6 hit for $10,848.28.
The extraordinary payoff was made possible by a parade of longshots finishing first through fourth. Tawney Port won the sixth race, a $5,000 nonwinners-of-two claimer at odds of 20-1, and was followed by Shiloh Dawn at 28-1, Rubiano's Revenue at 22-1, and The E at 11-1.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The last time Quiet Cash went 6 1/2 furlongs he won a $50,000 optional race by 6 1/4 lengths and posted a 100 Beyer Speed Figure - the only triple-digit Beyer Figure earned at Hastings since 1999. Needless to say, if Quiet Cash comes close to repeating that performance he's going to win the feature race at Hastings Sunday, a 6 1/2-furlong allowance for 3-year-olds and up that carries a $27,500 purse.
Seven horses have been entered, including Illusive Force, who is a multiple stakes winner with almost $360,000 in earnings.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Maucho Magic, coming off back-to-back victories, will be looking at a tougher assignment in the $32,000 optional claiming feature at one mile Sunday at Northlands Park.
Maucho Magic will be stretching out in distance after winning for $17,500 at six furlongs, then for $25,000 at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Maucho Magic, who won his maiden earlier this year against $12,000 company, gains the services of a new jockey in Real Simard. He is trained by Dale Saunders.
AUBURN, Wash. - Can a recent winner over maiden claiming company beat multiple winners while stepping up in class?
Most experienced handicappers would be skeptical of that proposition, but Irishskysarsmiling will try to prove them wrong when he takes on seven rivals in Sunday's Emerald Downs feature, a $25,000 optional claiming test for older horses at six furlongs.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Wild Desert doesn't have to be the winner of the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes.
But the projected pace setup, plus the manner in which Wild Desert won the $1 million at Woodbine, will make him difficult to deny here Sunday.
The 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales follows the 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate as the second jewel in Canada's Triple Crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Owners Martha Gonzalez and the members of the MAD Racing Stable had the time of their lives campaigning last year's Canadian champion 2-year-old, Wholelottabourbon. This year, they have a female version of Wholelottabourbon, the unbeaten 2-year-old Wannatalkaboutme, who will be favored in Sunday's $162,450 Shady Well Stakes at Woodbine.
Wannatalkaboutme trounced a field of $40,000 maidens when she made her debut June 10. Trainer Nick Gonzalez said he ran her with a tag then because she has a breathing problem, which could hinder her future development.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Owner-trainer Nick Nosowenko said he thinks he will be saddling the favorite in Sunday's $100,000 Ernie Samuel Stakes, a supporting feature to Fort Erie's signature race, the $500,000 Prince of Wales.
And rightfully so. His 5-year-old mare Tamara has earned Beyer Speed Figures of 91 and 94 in her last two outings, both on turf. None of the other five runners in the Ernie Samuel, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for Canadian-bred fillies and mares, has ever surpassed 91.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine will return to a 72-hour draw full-time, effective with the racing week beginning Aug. 10.
A Sunday-for-Wednesday draw had been reinstituted this spring, but all other cards were drawn on a 48-hour basis.
Chris Evans, Woodbine's vice president, Thoroughbred racing, said Friday that the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association had lobbied for a return to a regular 72-hour draw and management had acquiesced.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Trainer Ardell Sayler sends out four of the seven 2-year-old fillies in the $40,000 Debutante Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs Sunday at Assiniboia Downs. Sayler has two of the three winners in the field, Lyric Lake and Hey Hey Renee.
Lyric Lake posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 54 when she won at first asking over 4 1/2 furlongs here July 1. Hey Hey Renee, who also won at first asking over the same distance on July 5, posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 44.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - My Trusty Cat adds some Grade 1 luster to the $65,000 Red Cross Stakes Sunday at Monmouth Park.
The classy 5-year-old mare trained by David Vance was a $100 supplemental entry in the field of seven fillies and mares going six furlongs.
, a career winner of $880,253, is no stranger to Grade 1 competition. She won the seven-furlong Humana Distaff Handicap on Derby Day at Churchill Downs.
She also lost by only a head in last year's Ballerina Handicap at Saratoga.
