CALGARY, Alberta - Smooth Cruiser may be able to exorcise some demons in Sunday's featured seventh race at Stampede Park, an optional $40,000 claimer at six furlongs which drew eight older horses.
The good news for the speedy 6-year-old Smooth Cruiser, a gelding who is 0-for-12 on this course, is that he drew the rail. The bad news is that he must face Hot Talk, a fast horse who cost Smooth Cruiser the win in his last start.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nashinda will line up against two-time Canadian champion One for Rose and five other fillies and mares Sunday in the Grade 3, $164,100 Hendrie Handicap at Woodbine.
Nashinda, a speedy 4-year-old, enjoyed brief but productive campaigns in her first two years on the racetrack. She won the My Dear Stakes at 2 in 2003 and was deemed a serious contender for the 2004 Labatt Woodbine Oaks. She missed the second half of the year, however, because of bone bruises, according to trainer Mac Benson.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Yessirgeneralsir remains on course to defend his title in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap. He came out of a powerful five-furlong work in 57.60 seconds Thursday in good order. He worked under jockey Justin Shepherd, who is scheduled to ride him for the first time in the Lone Star Park Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race to be run May 30.
Yessirgeneralsir worked alone and to the wire, and his time was the fastest of 15 at the distance at Lone Star on Thursday.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Tim Kelly feels the anxiety that comes with running a horse he believes will perform well.
Sunday, he will saddle Out of the Will in the $60,000 Open Mind Handicap for New Jersey-bred fillies and mares at Monmouth Park.
Out of the Will is one of the favorites in the field of 11 going six furlongs. She makes her third start of the season, giving her a potential fitness advantage over her rivals who are making their first or second starts of the year.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Turf experience is a little hard to come by in Sunday's Excalibur Stakes, and as the only winner on the surface, Silver Haze should rule as a strong choice. He will face six rivals in the one-mile turf feature, which carries a $50,000 purse.
Bay Meadows's 71-day spring meet from Feb. 2 through May 8 showed increases in attendance and ontrack wagering over similar dates last year, which were run at both Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows. During the same 71-day period last year, Bay Meadows ran for 24 days and Golden Gate for 47 days.
Ontrack wagering this year was $52,404,201, a 4.1 percent increase over the $50,348,964 bet for the same period at Golden Gate and Bay Meadows in 2004. Attendance was up 3.7 percent, to 2,882 per day.
Evangeline Downs has suspended racing at its new facility until next Thursday because of unsafe track conditions. Several horses were injured or didn't finish during the early part of Thursday night's program, prompting the cancellation of the card after the sixth race.
The surface has proved problematic since racing began in February, and at least one Quarter Horse program was canceled.
MIAMI - It took almost a year to get her right, but once trainer Bill White finally had D'Wildcat Speed healthy it appeared she could be on her way to a big season. The 2003 Puerto Rican champion, D'Wildcat Speed showed her class by finishing third behind Madcap Escapade in the Grade 2 Shirley Jones Handicap and then upsetting 3-5 favorite Isola Piu Bella in the Grade 2 Rampart Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Grab Bag quietly slipped into town Friday morning at Woodbine, under cover of darkness.
Her connections hope Grab Bag's presence will not have escaped notice following her appearance in Sunday's $164,100 Hendrie Handicap, a 6 1/2-furlong feature for fillies and mares.
Grab Bag, trained by Tom Skiffington, is 6 years old but has made just 14 starts, recording 6 wins and 11 in-the-money finishes, while earning $231,850.
"She's a very, very classy mare," said assistant trainer Craig Marshall, who shipped up from Monmouth with Grab Bag.
