ARCADIA, Calif. - won a stakes in the U.S. last year, and Zanzibar won one in Argentina.
Friday at Santa Anita, they start in separate allowance races, but a return to the stakes ranks could be imminent.
Mea Domina, who won the Harold Ramser Handicap here last fall, will go favored in a $65,000 allowance race over a mile on turf for fillies and mares.
The first four finishers from the Feb. 27 Borderland Derby, the top local 3-year-old, and a surprise from the Bob Baffert barn passed the entry box Wednesday for Saturday's $500,000 at Sunland Park.
The track's biggest day of racing will also include the $250,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - As the field for the April 9 Wood Memorial remained in flux Wednesday, two of the horses considered definite starters for Grade 1, $750,000 race put in workouts at Belmont Park.
Survivalist, the Gotham winner, went an easy half-mile in 51.82 seconds over the training track. Meanwhile, Naughty New Yorker, who finished fourth in the Gotham but was placed third via disqualification, went five furlongs in 1:01.34. Both works were pushed back by one day as the training track was a sloppy mess on Tuesday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Actxecutive, a Grade 2-placed colt who won his comeback from a seven-month layoff last month at Oaklawn Park, is being pointed for the Grade 2, $325,000 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland on April 23, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen.
Asmussen won the race last year with the front-running Quintons Gold Rush.
Actxecutive was making his two-turn debut in the one-mile allowance at Oaklawn, and he led throughout for a half-length win, covering the distance in 1:38.87.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A preliminary strangles test on the horse who prompted the isolation of trainer Randy Schulhofer's string at Palm Meadows has come back
negative, and the Gulfstream Park track veterinarian recommended Wednesday that Schulhofer's horses be allowed to train with the general population.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Their pessimism proved correct. As the Florida Derby approached, trainers Todd Pletcher and Kiaran McLaughlin both were skeptical that colts they had hoped to run in the Grade 1 race would actually make the field.
So it was not the least bit surprising that when entries were drawn Wednesday morning, neither Bandini, trained by Pletcher, nor Closing Argument, trained by McLaughlin, were among the nine prospective starters. Each colt has been suffering from a foot bruise in recent days.
Storm's Darling showed a new dimension in her last start by coming from off the pace, and her newfound versatility only adds to her huge appeal Friday night in the $100,000 Goddess Breeders' Cup at Delta Downs.
There appears to be a good amount of speed in the 1 1/16-mile Goddess, which is for fillies and mares, and Storm's Darling could get a nice stalking trip from her outside post. She will break from post 4 in the field of five, and will go favored after having won 4 of her last 5 starts, including the $75,000 Chou Croute Handicap at Fair Grounds Feb. 20.
Illini telecast kept fans at home; Sunday card attempts to recoup
After a robust opening night last Friday saw a 7 percent increase in attendance over last year, Fairmount Park's pockets - and grandstand - were virtually empty Saturday night, victimized by CBS's broadcast of the wildly popular University of Illinois men's basketball team's comeback victory over Arizona in the NCAA tournament.
Trainer Lloyd Scott, who claimed the 5-year-old mare Cut Number out of a win at the $10,000 level, got immediate dividends on his investment when she scored by 4 3/4 lengths in an allowance race worth $25,000 last Thursday.
* Three consecutive longshots who were 25-1 or higher stumped pick four bettors in races 4 through 7 on March 23. No one had the sequence of Wild Silky ($58.80), Sky Wad ($65.20), Oh Dazzle Me ($72.20), and favored Country Brass ($5.80). A consolation payoff for three winners returned $3,879.60 for $2.