ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Paddy Gallagher grimaced when he learned that All the Boys was entered in a $56,000 optional claimer at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Friday.
Gallagher trains Skywalker Red, a front-runner who could face a stern challenge from All the Boys, who displays the same tactics. A speed duel will not do either horse any good over a long distance.
"My horse is kind of one-dimensional," Gallagher said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The $300,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes is traditionally one of the most important early-season and the main event on Saturday's program at Gulfstream Park, which offers five Grade 2 stakes. But even a race as prestigious as the Fountain of Youth could end up being overshadowed Saturday by the seven-furlong Swale Stakes - which showcases the spectacular Lost in the Fog - and the Swale's filly counterpart, the Forward Gal, which features an outstanding field led by the undefeated and untested Maddalena.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - After two rigorous campaigns ended in disappointing finishes in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the connections of 2003 champion 3-year-old Funny Cide have mapped out a limited 5-year-old campaign for him.
Funny Cide, who is in training at Gulfstream Park, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $150,000 Ben Ali Handicap at Keeneland on April 28. That would be a launching pad to the Pimlico Special on May 20 at Pimlico and the Stephen Foster Handicap on June 18 at Churchill Downs.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A much-the-best winner in both his starts at this meet, Iron Wall looms a solid favorite to make it three in a row on Friday when he heads a field of high-priced claimers in Gulfstream Park's feature race.
Nine 3-year-olds are entered in the six-furlong race, in which horses are eligible to be claimed for $75,000 or $65,000.
NEW ORLEANS - Fair Grounds officials are hoping for a match of potential champions in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 12.
"We're trying to get Splendid Blended to come," said racing secretary Ben Huffman. "She would add tremendous depth to the race."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Korbyn Gold looks like the right horse at the right time in Friday's featured eighth race.
The eighth is a $49,000 allowance with four-other-than conditions and an optional claim price of $85,000. The Steve Asmussen-trained Korbyn Gold, who has shown good form in three races on the inner track, drew the outside in a field of eight older male sprinters set to go six furlongs.
"He does really well in the wintertime," said assistant trainer Toby Sheets. "He's doing really good right now."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - It's a Derby-driven world right now. Even though there are two strong allowances on the Oaklawn Park card Friday, the one with the smaller purse might be of greater interest because it features a couple of promising 3-year-olds making their first starts around two turns. In the ninth, Promontory and Extra Exclusive, each impressive winners at the meet, stretch out around two turns against a field that includes the stakes-placed Silver Haze.
A pair of ship-ins from south Florida and a Maryland invader will be the three favorites when they try to advance along the Triple Crown on Saturday in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Ultimate, a Nick Zito-trained colt who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91 winning a Gulfstream Park maiden race in his second career start Feb. 7, is expected from Florida, as is Magna Graduate, a more experienced colt who ran a distant third behind High Fly in his most recent start, the Jan. 8 Aventura Stakes at Gulfstream.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - How many races does it take for a comebacker to attain proper fitness?
That's a question that handicappers weigh almost daily and one they must answer in Friday's Bay Meadows feature, a $40,000 starter allowance at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, which drew a field of seven.
is making his third start off a layoff, which often produces a peak performance. Came From Paris and Golazo are both making their second starts off a layoff.
Cowboys N Injuns, the Sunland Fall Futurity winner, and Tell Em Im Gone, who is twice Grade 1 futurity-placed, head the four trials to the Grade 2 West Texas Derby at Sunland Park on Friday afternoon.
The 10 fastest qualifiers from the 400-yard trials are eligible for the West Texas Derby, the year's first open derby in New Mexico, on March 19.
