ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Mobil, Woodbine's top older male on the dirt, heads a five-horse field in Saturday's $159,450 Durham Cup Handicap.
Mobil has stuck to the grass with mixed success since winning his last main-track outing by nearly 13 lengths, in the Grade 3 Dominion Day Handicap on July 1. He narrowly lost the Grade 2 Chinese Cultural Centre Stakes on July 25, and then finished well back after a wide trip in the Grade 1 Arlington Million.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Traditionally, 3-year-old fillies have performed well in the Grade 3, $150,000 Breeders' Cup Ballerina, which goes as the eighth race at Hastings on Saturday. In fact the previous two renewals have been won by 3-year-olds, Dancewithavixen last year and Grace for You in 2003.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Meadows will launch its 58th season on Saturday with a nine-race card headed by the $10,000 Inaugural Handicap at six furlongs.
Portland Meadows will race for 80 days, with the meet scheduled to end on April 24, 2005.
Slewicide Cruise will concede from four to 10 pounds to seven rivals when he shoulders high weight of 125 pounds in the Inaugural, which is being renewed for the 31st time.
EDMONTON, Alberta - The first running of the $50,000 Sales Handicap for colts and geldings, 4-year-olds and upward, is the feature here Saturday, and trainer Ron Grieves is hoping the addition to the stakes schedule will allow his favorite horse, Code Name Fred, to add one last stakes victory to his resume.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Slewicide Cruise, the highweight and certain favorite for Saturday's six-furlong Inaugural Handicap, has come a long way since he raced at Portland Meadows last fall.
At that time, Slewicide Cruise was a promising but unaccomplished 3-year-old. He collected his maiden win against allowance company in his first local outing, then ran a creditable third to older rivals Zip the Bright and Lethal Grande in the Thanksgiving Handicap before being turned out for the winter.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Frank Barroby had a choice: run La Belle Fleur for an $11,000 claiming tag or take a shot in the $40,000 Delta Colleen Stakes.
Barroby opted for the Delta Colleen Stakes on Sept. 26 at Hastings, and while he thought that she would run a good race, he never really thought she would win. Not many others did either and that's why La Belle Fleur paid a whopping $65.50 for her 1 1/2-length win over Stormented.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - California Cup Day has become one of the most popular days on the racing calendar, and fans at Bay Meadows will have plenty of local rooting interests Saturday.
Perhaps their best hope is defending Cal Cup Sprint champion Green Team, who ran the fastest Sprint in history last year.
"He seems to be getting good," trainer Jeff Bonde said. "I hope he's Reggie Jackson for us, Mr. October."
Wimplestiltskin and Move to Strike will both try to turn back the calendar to early spring when they run in the $50,000 Sonny Hine, a six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds at Pimlico.
After unsuccessfully chasing such top-caliber 3-year-olds as Pollard's Vision, Lion Heart, and Love of Money in graded stakes contested around two turns, Wimplestiltskin will cut back to a sprint for the first time since May. In his best races, which came in Southern California, Wimplestiltskin was up close or in front at the six-furlong call in both the Grade 2 Laz Barrera and the San Pedro.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Uphill Skier, having recovered from a foot injury, swings back into action Saturday night in the $60,000 Queen Lib Handicap for New Jersey-bred fillies and mares at The Meadowlands Racetrack.
The 4-year-old Uphill Skier, trained by Ben Perkins Jr., produced dominant victories in her last two statebred handicaps at Monmouth Park: the off-the-turf Spruce Fir and the Jersey Girl.
Those two wins make Uphill Skier the one to beat in the feature, at one mile and 70 yards. She is rested and healed as she makes her first start since Aug. 29.
CHICAGO - At the 11th hour, Saturday's Hawthorne Derby might have found its favorite. He is , a horse who wants to run through a wall every time he lines up in the starting gate. He raced just last Sunday in the Storm Cat at Keeneland, finishing fourth after running off with jockey Pat Day, and perhaps the quick turnaround will take the edge off Cool Conductor, whose quarter-length loss in the Grade 2 American Derby is the best race among any of the 10 horses entered in the Grade 3, $250,000 derby.