ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer John Ross and jockey Steven Bahen conjured up a Breeders' Stakes victory with John the Magician here in 1997.
Ross and Bahen hope to pull another surprise package out of the hat at Woodbine on Sunday when Stephen's Gift, who will be trying turf for the first time, starts in the $500,000 Breeders' over 1 1/2 miles.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nashinda, who was scratched from Monday's Grade 3 Royal North Handicap, heads Friday's Woodbine feature, an allowance race that two in the field will use as a prep for the Aug. 21 Victoriana Stakes.
The one-mile turf event has lured an excellent field of seven fillies and mares, including Ambitious Cat, Kabul, and Financingavailable.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Speed reigned supreme for the first six races of Monday's Manitoba Derby Day card. But when it came time for the eighth and final race of day, Prime Time T.V. ($8.10) rallied from last to take the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Five Saskatchewan-bred 3-year-old fillies meet in Friday's $6,500 James Leakos Sophomore at Marquis Downs. Run at a mile, the race honors the late James Leakos, who was one of the province's most influential breeders and owners in the 1980's.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The $1 million , the richest race in New Jersey, has become easy pickings for high-profile owners, trainers, and jockeys who invade Monmouth Park and make off with the money.
The last Monmouth-based Haskell winner was Skip Away in 1996. Recent out-of-state winners include the Bobby Frankel-trained Peace Rules, as well as Point Given and War Emblem, who were both trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert will send out expected favorite Roman Ruler in Sunday's Haskell.
The racing surface at Prairie Meadows has become uneven in certain parts of the track's six-furlong chute. The problem forced three six-furlong races on Tuesday to be switched to 5 1/2 furlongs.
Riders have complained of a dip in the racing surface, on approximately the four inside paths, for the past several weeks. The track has repeatedly added material to the affected area, but the problem has reappeared.
It would have been a fitting tribute to a longtime pillar of the racing community at Charles Town if Hello Out There had been able to win the ninth race on July 28.
Hello Out There, a 3-year-old gelding owned by the Taylor Mountain Farm founded by James W. and Eleanor Casey, raced only hours after 73-year-old Eleanor Casey died of a heart attack. Although sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Hello Out There could only manage to finish fifth of six in the two-other-than allowance race.
Still flush from the success of the inaugural Louisiana Legends Night last Saturday, track officials this week announced a purse increase for the balance of the meeting, which runs through Sept. 24.
The eight statebred stakes that made up Louisiana Legends Night produced a big night not only locally, but also from a simulcast standpoint.
