ALBANY, Calif. - Ninetenthsofthelaw may be trainer Ronnie Wallace's greatest success.
A 6-year-old gelding, Ninetenthsofthelaw will be tough to beat when he takes on seven rivals in Sunday's Golden Gate Fields feature, a six-furlong first-level allowance race.
Wallace claimed Ninetenthsof-thelaw for $4,000 on Sept. 10, 2003. His partner asked Wallace if he would buy him out, and Wallace did. Three days later, Ninetenthsofthelaw won a $12,500 claimer.
CHICAGO - With a lock on his third Hawthorne riding title, Chris Emigh will celebrate the final day of the winter meet here, not by taking it easy, but by going hard.
A no-nonsense journeyman, Emigh used to leave the track in the evening spent from riding every mount so aggressively.
"It's a competition thing," Emigh said. "I've always tried to ride every race like it was the Derby. I used to over-ride some of them. I had to learn to calm down."
Gulfstream Park may spark a major shift in the Florida racing calendar by amending its request for 2006 dates and applying for a brief fall meet in addition to its traditional dates.
Gulfstream applied for its normal winter dates, Jan. 3 to April 24, when applications were filed Thursday with the state's Division of Parimutuel Wagering, but all tracks have until March 31 to make changes.
Scott Savin, Gulfstream's president, said Friday that a fall meet of undetermined duration is "something we've talked about," adding such a meet has garnered interest from horsemen.
Trainer Dickie Small settled for winning two of the three stakes run during the final week of 2004 at Pimlico when his colt Legal Control ($17.80) drew off in the stretch to win Friday's by 2 1/2 lengths.
Monster Chaser, stretching out beyond six furlongs for the first time, outfought Prideland, the even-money favorite, by a neck for second. Legal Control completed 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:46.21.
The fourth race on Thursday night at Los Alamitos was declared no contest after a horse and rider went down during the early stages of the six-furlong Arabian race. Los Alamitos is five furlongs in circumference, so the injured parties would have been in the path of the remaining runners when they came around again for the stretch run.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Yesss will return to action in Sunday's best race at Portland Meadows, a one-mile invitational handicap that has attracted a field of six older runners.
Yesss has been absent since running a troubled second in the fog-shrouded Thanksgiving Handicap at a mile on Nov. 26, but not by his owner's choosing. Owner Delmer Webb entered the 7-year-old Yesss in the Oregon Sprint Championship on Dec. 11, but the race was canceled when only three challengers signed on.
The improving Yet Anothernatalie is the one to catch in Sunday's $53,250 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park. The 5 1/2- furlong race drew seven fillies and mares, including Souris, a four-time stakes winner who is in position to surpass earnings of $500,000.
Yet Anothernatalie and Souris are co-highweighted at 122 pounds in the Bold Ego. Another of interest in the race is Lauren Lynn, an allowance winner at Sunland in November.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With rain having pounded the area in recent days, it is difficult to predict which of the 10 entrants will start in Saturday's $150,000 .
If the Grade 2 San Gabriel is run as designed over 1 1/8 miles on turf, it would give Habaneros a chance at his second graded-stakes win of the year at Santa Anita.
If the race were transferred to dirt, the top contenders would be recent stakes winners Lundy's Liability or Truly a Judge.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Diligent Prospect returned from a seven-month layoff to win an over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Thursday, a race that trainer Doug O'Neill says will be the colt's last sprint for awhile.
Ridden by Jon Court, Diligent Prospect ($4.20) stalked Processor to the turn, took the lead entering the stretch, and won by two lengths over Stormin Away. Diligent Prospect was timed in 1:23.30 on a muddy track. While the final time was not particularly quick, O'Neill said he was not concerned.
MIAMI - If they gave an award for the most electrifying performer of the 2003 Gulfstream Park meeting, Madcap Escapade would have gotten the honor hands down.
Unraced coming into the meet, the 3-year-old Madcap Escapade won her maiden by 10 lengths on Jan. 4, the Old Hat Stakes by 11 3/4 lengths on Feb. 14, and the Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes by nearly five lengths on March 13.
