New Mexico Breeders Derby winner Arbor Mist heads a strong contingent of 3-year-old fillies in the $125,000 Lou Wooten Handicap for New Mexico-bred fillies and mares at Sunland Park on Saturday afternoon.
In the Sept. 26 Breeders Derby, her most recent start, Arbor Mist defeated males as the 3-5 favorite when she quickly opened up a daylight lead and rolled through the finish 1 1/4 lengths in front at the Wooten distance of 400 yards.
ALBANY, Calif. - A late-season first-level allowance race presents a handicapping challenge for fans in Saturday's Golden Gate Fields feature race. Six fillies and mares signed up for the 1 1/8-mile race, which marks new territory for many.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Quiz the Maid will head a field of 10 fillies and mares in Saturday's one-mile feature at Portland Meadows, a $7,000 overnight handicap sponsored by the Oregon division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
Saturday's nine-race card will have a special 5 p.m. first post to accommodate the Nike National Cross Country Championships, which will be staged at the track earlier in the day.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Brass in Pocket made her final career start a winner at Woodbine on Wednesday night, taking the $129,000 Classy 'n Smart Stakes for the third year in a row.
Brass in Pocket barely worked up a sweat in the 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares. As expected, she went right to the front under Todd Kabel and never looked back, getting home on top by three lengths as the odds-on favorite.
Brass in Pocket, trained throughout her career by Bob Tiller, retires with 14 wins and 19 in-the-money finishes from 24 starts, for earnings of $1,146,023.
CHICAGO - Storm the Beach ran like a rookie in his stakes debut, blasting from the gate in the Lightning Jet Handicap three weeks ago at Hawthorne and running himself out of air by the top of the stretch. He returns Saturday in a third-level sprint allowance race, but lying in wait is Never Give In, a horse being managed with the utmost patience.
The opportunity to ride first call for owner Michael Gill has lured Jeremy Beasley to Maryland.
Although he is just 24, Beasley has already shifted his home base several times. Most recently, Beasley was a regular in Texas, where he was leading rider at both Sam Houston Race Park and Retama Park, and set a meet record at Sam Houston by winning 13 stakes for trainer Steve Asmussen in 2003.
Beasley was also based at Calder for two seasons and had stints riding in Chicago and New York.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The early mornings and long days are no longer enjoyable for horse trainer Billy Badgett. That's why Billy Badgett is no longer training horses.
After a 34-year career, during which he worked for a Hall of Fame trainer and developed a Hall of Fame filly, Badgett has given up training horses to become a bloodstock agent.
MIAMI - Last winter, trainer Todd Pletcher thought so highly of the newly arrived Chilean-bred Host that he contemplated a trip to Dubai for the $2 million Dubai Duty Free Stakes. Those plans didn't pan out, but nine months later Pletcher still has high hopes for Host, whom he sends in Saturday's Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap.
MIAMI - After Aclassysassylassy dominated the local 2-year-old filly division all season, even her trainer, Dave Vivian, was eager to see how she might fare when tested by a quality out-of-town horse like Smuggler in Saturday's $100,000 Three Ring Stakes at Calder. Barring a last-second change of heart, though, that confrontation will not take place.
Turf racing in December. It's nice if you can get it, and when trainers come across it, they tend to flood the entry box. Such is the case at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas, for Saturday night's $40,000 Katy, which drew a full field of 12 fillies and mares, led by Grade 2 winner Fun House.
The 1 1/16-mile turf race figures to produce starters for the $60,000 Furl Sail at Fair Grounds Dec. 23.
