ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Josie Carroll will take two shots at Sunday's $135,000 Victoria Stakes when she sends out Vibank and Edenwold in the five-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds at Woodbine.
Vibank was a close second to a filly, Arzu, when he debuted here May 8. With the addition of Lasix in another 4 1/2-furlong maiden special May 29, Vibank romped home on top by 9 1/4 lengths, receiving a Beyer Speed Figure of 68.
CALGARY, Alberta - Kathern's Cat is the odds-on favorite in Sunday's $50,000 Penny Ridge at Stampede Park. The traditional closing-day feature for 3-year-old fillies drew just four of the nine nominees.
Kathern's Cat was clearly the best in the one-mile Lilac here on May 29.
Under a firm hold from Quincy Welch, Kathern's Cat atoned for her disappointing race in the six-furlong Mount Royal and obviously appreciated the extra distance.
AUBURN, Wash. - Sabertooth will face six rivals, including a pair of Canadians, in Sunday's one-mile, $75,000 Budweiser Emerald Handicap.
Sabertooth, a 7-year-old trained by Jim Penney, will carry high weight of 120 pounds on the strength of his world-record performance in the FSN Handicap on May 22, running 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:13 flat. Sabertooth is thoroughly proven at a mile, having won the Grade 3 Longacres Mile in 2002, and is the apparent speed of the field. Nate Chaves, who has ridden Sabertooth in all six of his career wins, will have the mount.
AUBURN, Wash. - What does a horse do for an encore after he sets a world record, as Sabertooth did last month when he sped 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:13 in the FSN Handicap at Emerald Downs?
"He comes right back at 'em," answered assistant trainer Kay Cooper, confirming that Sabertooth will head a field of six in Sunday's $75,000 Budweiser Emerald Handicap at a mile.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After missing the first part of the meet because he was riding in Macao, jockey Richard Hamel got off to a great start in his first weekend at Hastings this year, winning three races including the Brighouse Belles aboard La Belle Fleur.
Hamel has decided to ride full time at Hastings. He had a successful career riding in Alberta, but he wasn't made welcome after the jockeys voted not to ride over a rough track at Stampede Park in Calgary last year.
CHICAGO - Three days after she deplaned, having been privately purchased and flown from France to Kentucky, Ascot Dream ran smack into one of the stronger 3-year-old filly grass races of the season, the Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland. Ascot Dream broke slowly and never really got involved in the race, finishing fifth of eight behind the undefeated Melhor Ainda.
Sinister G emerged from obscurity early last year to upset the Grade 2 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park. Instead of serving as a steppingstone for even greater success against some of 2004's top 3-year-olds, however, the Lane's End became merely the high-water mark in a career that steadily headed downhill.
Back in the barn of trainer John Toscano following a brief unsuccessful stint with Jeff Mullins in Southern California, Sinister G tries to take the next step in reviving his once-promising career in Sunday's $50,000 Wadsworth Memorial Handicap at Finger Lakes.
There are precious few clues to help a handicapper in search of a winner in the $60,000 Oakley Stakes at Colonial Downs.
The 1 1/16-mile turf race, restricted to 3-year-old Virginia-bred fillies, is really a guessing game. The seven entrants are a combined 0 for 4 on grass. Three have yet to race beyond a mile.
Maria's Dance has sprinted on dirt in her first three starts, but her pedigree indicates she ought to relish turf and long distance. Her second dam, Dance Teacher won the Grade 3 Vineland Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf in 1988.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - A rematch is brewing.
Premier Dance, who established himself as one of the best 2-year-olds at Lone Star Park with a powerful win during trials for the $135,000 colts and geldings division of the Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity, and Forrest G., who won the finale, could both meet next in the $75,000 Middleground Breeders' Cup.
The six-furlong race for 2-year-olds will be run at Lone Star on July 16.
