STICKNEY, Ill. - A trainer will point a horse to a race a couple of months away, sometimes more, if they're the type to take the long view. But the connections of Arizona Rose have been thinking of Saturday's $100,000 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante for two and a half years.
"How long have I pointed for this race? Since she was born," said Mike Weissman, who trains Arizona Rose for owner-breeder Richard Perkins. "How many hundred-thousands are there going to be for an Illinois-bred to run in?
Guy Smith is at the top of his game both professionally and personally. He leads the standings at Delta Downs in wins, earnings, and stakes victories, and in July, he and his wife, Holly, welcomed a daughter, Macy.
The family makes their home in Vinton, La., where Smith decided to set up shop after Boyd Gaming purchased Delta in 2001 and installed slots. Since then, purses have hit record levels, and Smith has won his share. The current meet opened in October, and in a little more than two months Smith's mounts have earned $813,748.
Boggy Creek's first major goal next year will be the $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on April 2, said his owner, John Parker. The colt became a stakes winner in his last start, when he unleashed a powerful closing kick to win the $150,000 Sam Houston Texan Juvenile at Sam Houston Race Park on Nov. 20.
A catalog of 270 horses is set to sell during the Fasig-Tipton Texas December mixed sale at Lone Star Park on Sunday. The catalog includes broodmares, weanlings, and horses of racing age. There is also a section of the sale that features the reduction of the breeding stock held by Turf Express Stud, Inc.
The sale is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Central and will be held in a pavilion located in the stable area at Lone Star. The sale is sponsored by the Texas Thoroughbred Association.
George Taylor, who won five races during the Remington meet, has earned four championship titles from the track. He was voted horse of the meet, champion older male, champion Oklahoma-bred, and champion claimer. It was an outstanding season for George Taylor, whose biggest victory came in the $75,000 Oklahoma Classics Day Classic.
He is owned by his breeder, Rash Barrett, and is trained by Ricky Gustafson. Nena Matz was aboard for each of George Taylor's wins at Remington.
Expect Will, a three-time stakes winner who exits a dominant victory in the $50,000 Groovy Stakes at Sam Houston on Nov. 20, will be a strong favorite in the eighth race Friday at Sunland Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint is one of two trials being run for the $100,000-added Riley Allison Futurity on Dec. 26.
The Riley Allison is a goal for Expect Will, whose other stakes wins came in the Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity and a division of the $125,000 Texas Stallion Stakes. He is trained by Steve Asmussen.
Not only did rider Mick Ruis have a big day last Saturday by winning three in a row, but he had the sense to win the right bunch of races, as two of the wins came in the co-featured Arizona Breeders Futurities.
The streak started in race 5 with B.C.'s Hero. Then in the $40,283 fillies division of the futurities, he guided maiden Missingrbueno to upset heavily favored Cuttin In, who was unbeaten and untested in her first two outings. Missingrbueno, owned by Richard Zillman and trained by Kevin Eikleberry, covered the six furlongs in 1:11.20 to win by under a length.
Two-time futurity winner Ocean Runaway goes after his second $1 million-plus purse and can start a potentially exceptional weekend for trainer Denny Ekins when he runs in the Grade 1, $1,508,650 Los Alamitos Million, California's richest race of the year, on Friday night at Los Alamitos.
Ekins will also be represented by favorite Not for Long in the Grade 1 Southern California Derby on Sunday.
PORTLAND, Ore. - There is a new leader in the handicap division for Quarter Horses at Portland Meadows.
Beluga Star suggested as much when he edged his longtime nemesis, In Search of Fame, in the 350-yard Autumn Handicap here on Oct. 23. He confirmed it last Friday, when he surged to a length victory over longshot Mi Fames a Dandy in the 400-yard Columbia River Handicap, which he won in 20.24 seconds under rider Tim Neal. Billys Easter Boy got up for third while In Search of Fame checked in fourth in the field of 10 as the 6-5 favorite.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Year in and year out, Red Johnson has been one of the top percentage trainers on the grounds.
Johnson, 57, started that trend when he began his training career almost 30 years ago at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs, and he hasn't faltered since moving east to Woodbine in 1991.
Heading into the final days of the 2004 meeting, Johnson has started 82 horses. He has saddled 22 winners, a strike rate of almost 26 percent, and 51 in-the-money finishers, a 60 percent rate.