ALBANY, Calif. - Russell Baze rode four winners at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday, including the final three races of the day, to move ahead of Pat Day into the No. 3 spot for career victories for jockeys.
Baze now has 8,772 victories, one ahead of Day, who scored one victory at Churchill Downs on Thursday. Bill Shoemaker is second on the all-time list with 8,833. Laffit Pincay Jr. is the all-time leader with 9,530 victories.
In 2001, Delaware Township finished sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, got a rider change to Jerry Bailey, and three weeks later won the Grade 1 . Dallas Stewart, the trainer of Clock Stopper, is hoping history repeats on Saturday.
Clock Stopper finished sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and will get a rider switch to Bailey for Saturday's $300,000 De Francis Dash. This year's De Francis will be run at Pimlico because Laurel Park's track surface is undergoing a makeover.
Trainers Shug McGaughey and Todd Pletcher have some decisions to make. What they decide will determine how strong a race Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Laurel Futurity at Pimlico turns out to be.
McGaughey has entered the promising Defer, while Pletcher entered the uncoupled entry of Funk and Killenaule in the 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-old colts. As of Thursday morning, McGaughey was still considering keeping Defer in New York for next weekend's Remsen Stakes. Pletcher said he would run just one, with the other being pointed to the Remsen.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Sometimes it's better not to have a plan.
Trainer Graham Motion had no plan for Dr. Brendler when he ran him in an allowance race at Keeneland last month. But the race, which Dr. Brendler lost by a neck, seems to have him set up perfectly for Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 at Aqueduct. The Red Smith is scheduled for 1 3/8 miles on the turf, though forecasted showers could move the race to the dirt.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Potential champions Norfolk Knight and A Bit O'Gold will clash on Saturday in the Grade 3 Woodbine Slots Cup Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race worth $157,950.
Norfolk Knight, a huge 5-year-old trained by Hugo Dittfach, is a leading candidate for this year's Sovereign Award as champion older runner. He notched his first stakes win in the June 12 Steady Growth, but then failed to hit the top two spots in his next four outings.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Declan's Moon was a surprise winner of the Del Mar Futurity two months ago, a victory that kept his unbeaten record intact after two starts.
When Declan's Moon returns in Saturday's $100,000 Hollywood Prevue Stakes over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park, the focus of the race will almost entirely be on him. A victory would keep him in the running for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding 2-year-old.
PORTLAND, Ore. - One Fast Cowgirl will be out to prove on Saturday that her surprising victory in the Nov. 6 Janet Wineberg Stakes was not a fluke, when she takes on seven other 2-year-old fillies in the $10,000 Lassie Stakes at six furlong.
The Lassie heads an attractive nine-race program that also includes the $6,000-added Portland Meadows Fall Derby Final for Quarter Horses at 400 yards and the $8,000 HBPA Invitational Handicap for 3-year-olds at a mile.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - J V Bennett won't be the betting choice, but the fan favorite will get his usual warm reception when he goes on post parade for his 100th career start in the feature race at Hastings Saturday.
An 11-year-old gelding, J V Bennett was no secret when made his debut, winning as the odds-on favorite in a maiden special weight race at Turf Paradise in 1995. He won the Tempe Handicap the following April, but for the most part J V Bennett has been a consistent allowance and mid-priced claiming horse.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This one could be tight.
The 31st Cardinal Handicap might have the consistent Canadian filly Classic Stamp as a lukewarm favorite, but Churchill Downs horseplayers will have all sorts of wagering alternatives when the Grade 3 turf race is renewed Saturday.
Leaving on My Mind will attempt to win his fifth straight stakes race Saturday night in the $150,000 Sam Houston Texan Juvenile, but his streak is not the only element of suspense surrounding Texas Champions Day at Sam Houston Race Park.
Trainer Steve Asmussen has been working toward breaking a 28-year-old record for victories in a year in North America, and there is a chance he could set the record on this card, in which he will start 14 horses, 12 in stakes.
