ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Dance With Ravens, a blue-blooded Sam-Son Farm runner, possesses all the credentials to capture the $1 million , which will be run for the 146th time Sunday at Woodbine.
The 1 1/4-mile Plate has lured a quality field of 10 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, including the red-hot Gold Strike, who will try to become the 34th filly to win the prestigious event.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soaring Free, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, will be a short price in Sunday's $223,800 Scotts Highlander Handicap. I Thee Wed, however, was a razor-sharp winner of the allowance prep for this Grade 3 test, and could give Soaring Free a run for his money in the six-furlong turf race.
I Thee Wed, a 5-year-old Affirmed gelding trained by David Bell, won his first stakes on the grass here in October, taking the six-furlong Nearctic Handicap at 26-1. After getting the winter off, he finished fourth on the dirt in the seven-furlong Vigil Handicap.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In many other years, a horse with the credentials of Stag Nation would have been given a crack at the $1 million .
But this Sunday, Stag Nation will be running in the $110,000 Charlie Barley, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds which along with the 1 1/2-mile Singspiel is one of two open overnight turf stakes on the supporting program.
Stag Nation finished fifth in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial before being moved up a notch via a disqualification, and trainer Danny Vella thought long and hard about a Plate appearance.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a full of intrigue, there is no contestant more mysterious than Wild Desert, who will be making his local debut in Sunday's $1 million headliner at Woodbine.
Wild Desert represents a puzzle for bettors. It has been 10 weeks since Wild Desert last saw action, when he finished 15 3/4 lengths back in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby, where Afleet Alex was an eight-length winner.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Ordinarily, when the winners of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan meet for the first time, handicappers would be inclined to give the advantage to the Oaks winner.
But when Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly hooks up with Black-Eyed Susan winner Spun Sugar in Saturday's Grade 1 at Belmont Park, handicappers may want to think twice before giving Summerly the edge. A total of six 3-year-old fillies were entered for the $300,000 Mother Goose, a one-turn race run at 1 1/8 miles.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jerry Bailey, the jockey who denied Funny Cide the 2003 Triple Crown when he rode Empire Maker to victory in the Belmont Stakes, will be the new rider of Funny Cide. Bailey will ride Funny Cide in his next start, which is scheduled to be the $500,000 Suburban Handicap here on July 2.
"It's always great to get an opportunity to ride a good horse," Bailey said. "I do know him about as well as you can know a horse without riding him. I know what he likes and what he doesn't like. He's certainly very consistent - he's a tough horse, you can never count him out."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The collection of trophies that owner Michael Bello has amassed from Megahertz's brilliant career has one notable absence from the summer calendar - Saturday's Grade 2 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Of her 11 stakes wins, Megahertz has won such major races as the American Oaks, three runnings of the Santa Barbara Handicap, the Santa Ana Handicap, and the John Mabee Handicap.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The field for the $750,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park on July 3 will not have three fillies that were among the original invitees last weekend, including Karen's Caper, the runner-up in the Coronation Stakes in England earlier this month.
The absence of Karen's Caper weakens the Grade 1 American Oaks, which is promoted as an international race and is expected to draw runners from Europe, Japan, California, and New York.
A highly competitive field of 11 3-year-olds runs Saturday in the inaugural Colonial Turf Cup, with $500,000 on the line and potentially $5 million down the road.
It's hard to pick out a clear-cut favorite in the 1 3/16-mile turf race, which is the first leg of a four-race series that awards a total of $5 million in bonuses and purses to any horse that wins all four legs. The other races are the July 16 Virginia Derby at Colonial, the Aug. 13 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park, and the Oct. 29 Breeders' Cup Turf at Belmont Park.
Bobby Frankel will take the blinkers off Chattahoochee War in hopes of getting him to relax in the Grade 3, $500,000 Kent Breeders' Cup Stakes Saturday, one of the richest races of the season at Delaware Park.
The Kent purse was doubled this year, and the 1 1/8-mile turf race attracted 14 3-year-old entrants.
The $500,000 purse puts the Kent on a par with the Delaware Oaks. Those two races trail only the $1 million Delaware Handicap in purse value at the meet.
This will be the first time Chattahoochee War races without a hood.
