ARCADIA, Calif. - Spring break has ended for Rock Hard Ten, the top older horse of the Santa Anita meeting.
Friday, Rock Hard Ten worked three furlongs in 39.80 seconds, which trainer Richard Mandella said was more of a gallop than a breeze.
"It was an open gallop," Mandella said. "It wasn't a real work. He was getting a little bored."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Offlee Wild's dominant victory in last weekend's Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap at Aqueduct has earned him a return trip to Grade 1 company, as he will make his next start in the $500,000 Pimlico Special on May 20, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said.
Dutrow may also run Saint Liam in the Pimlico Special, though he is also considering the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on May 31 or the Stephen Foster Handicap on June 18 at Churchill Downs for that horse.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Funny Cide was scheduled to have his final local work here Saturday, weather permitting, before shipping to New York on Sunday. The star of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness has not started since finishing 10th in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said, if all goes well, Funny Cide will make his much anticipated 2005 debut at Aqueduct against fellow New York-breds in the Kings Point Handicap on May 1.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Aly Bubba has made a nice living despite rarely winning.
The 6-year-old Aly Bubba hasn't won a race since Jan. 18, 2003. He has won only 3 of 24 starts, but earned $192,705 with a series of solid races.
He should surpass the $200,000 mark in career earnings and score his first victory in more than two years in Sunday's Bay Meadows feature, an $80,000 optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Cat Shaker, who was up for a half-length win in the $100,000 Rushway at 38-1 last month at Turfway Park, will be a $50,000 supplement to the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby, said trainer Craig Callis on Friday.
Cat Shaker joins a growing field for the 1 1/8-mile race, which will close out the Oaklawn Park meet on Saturday. Rush Bay also is pointing for the race, according to his trainer, Tom Amoss, and track officials are also expecting Grade 3 Holy Bull winner Closing Argument.
STICKNEY, Ill. - There is a tiger hidden back in Barn A on the Hawthorne Race Course backstretch, a big, beautiful, dark bay 5-year-old as fast as anything stabled in Chicago right now.
Lord of the Game was cut out to be this kind of racehorse, but he has taken a winding path to get here. And how long Lord of the Game can hold his form is an open question.
ARCADIA, Calif. - For pure spectacle, it is hard to beat Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 , with the filly Sweet Catomine starting as the favorite against 10 male rivals. Bettors might find it intriguing, too, but only if they are willing to take the position that Sweet Catomine is vulnerable, and certainly not worth the short price she will be.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Singletary has the most to prove of the six runners in Saturday's $150,000 Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita.
The winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile at Lone Star Park last October, Singletary was seventh in his first start of 2005, the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile here on March 5.
The loss stung trainer Don Chatlos. He is convinced that Singletary did not have the necessary fitness to win, a problem brought on by a training program interrupted by rain earlier this year.
