Thu, 12/16/2004 - 00:00

Aggadan will offer slim price

Aggadan has gone off at 9-5 or lower in four of his last six starts, twice as the favorite. A 5-year-old based in New York with trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., Aggadan figures to be a short price again Saturday at Pimlico in the $100,000 Jennings Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile Jennings is restricted to Maryland-breds.

Thu, 12/16/2004 - 00:00

Stiffest test yet for Check the Account

Fastest-qualifier Check the Account will try to show she can be a Grade 1 derby prospect in 2005 when she seeks her fourth straight victory Saturday against a deep field in the Grade 2, $185,165 Sunland Fall Futurity at Sunland Park.

The four fastest qualifiers come into the 400-yard finals with a combined 16 wins, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds from 23 starts. A Fall Futurity score would be the most important career victory for each of the finalists.

Thu, 12/16/2004 - 00:00

Experience vs. class in Ford

Blastin Holland meets the Grade 1-tested Summertime Fly over 550 yards in the $25,000 Paul Ford Handicap at Los Alamitos on Saturday night.

Blastin Holland comes off a win at 550 yards in the Palo Verdes Handicap on Nov. 6, his first win in 10 months. In his previous two starts, however, he showed improving form with two close second-place efforts.

Thu, 12/16/2004 - 00:00

Muir Beach the pick in Mesa, if she starts

PHOENIX - Turf or dirt, sprint or route, it doesn't matter in the slightest to Muir Beach. A consistent 3-year-old, has won 6 of 18 by virtue of her adaptability, and she again looks like the favorite in the $40,000 Mesa Handicap Saturday at Turf Paradise - if she runs. She also was entered in Friday's Bueno Stakes here. The six-furlong Mesa, for fillies and mares, has lured a field of seven.

Thu, 12/16/2004 - 00:00

Gutierrez out two weeks for elective knee surgery

PORTLAND, Ore. - Defending riding champion Juan Gutierrez escaped serious injury when his mount in last Saturday's second race fell on the far turn, but he will be sidelined for at least two weeks.

Gutierrez's agent, Keith Drebin, said that the rider was to undergo arthroscopic surgery to correct a pre-existing problem in his knee on Thursday.

"He has been putting off the knee surgery, but it seemed like the right time to do it after the spill," Drebin said. "He was awfully sore, and it would have been hard for him to ride this weekend anyway."

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Championship battle

Horsephotos
Wilko (above) will be the first BC Juvenile winner since Brocco in 1993 to run in the Hollywood Futurity. Declan's Moon and Proud Accolade, fellow top candidates for the 2-year-old Eclipse Award, are also in Saturday's big race.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park began its fall meeting in 1981, or, as it has come to be known, 3 BBC (Before Breeders' Cup). The Hollywood Futurity was one of the elite races of the meet, with a purse of $715,100. Two years later, in a move that made Dr. Evil proud, it topped one . . . million . . . dollars.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Mandella four truly fearsome

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Los Angeles Rams had one with their defensive line in the 1960's. So too did the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970's. And now trainer Richard Mandella has his own fearsome foursome. Action This Day, Minister Eric, Rock Hard Ten, and Spellbinder - all 3-year-old colts who are under consideration for the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Santa Anita's opening day Dec. 26 - worked seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Loucamania lands role as favorite

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Paulo Lobo nominated the Brazilian import Loucamania to Monday's Dahlia Handicap, but when he looked at the prospective field earlier this week, he said he probably wouldn't run there and hoped an allowance would go instead.

He got his wish.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

'Shebelongs' looks sharp for stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Shebelongstoyou was no match for the likes of Balletto, Sis City, and Smuggler in her two previous starts in New York. But none of those fillies is entered in Friday's $50,000 Raging Fever Stakes, which may explain why trainer Kelly Breen is so confident about his 2-year-old filly in the mile-and-70-yard race over Aqueduct's inner track.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Rahy's Secret on right track

NEW ORLEANS - Rahy's Secret returns to his favorite surface, the Fair Grounds turf course, Friday in the $32,000 optional claiming allowance feature at 5 1/2 furlongs.

A 6-year-old son of Rahy, Rahy's Secret won the Black Gold Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass at Fair Grounds as a 3-year-old, in the same year that he finished third in the Risen Star Stakes. He has run in optional allowance and straight claiming races more recently, and has changed hands a couple of times. Trainer Eddie Johnston drops him in here for $40,000.