ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Owner and trainer Audre Cappuccitti generally spends the off-season in Ontario, wintering her charges on the farm and shipping back to the Woodbine backstretch early to prepare for the new meeting.
But Cappuccitti will be taking a new tack this year, as later this month she plans to head south to Florida, where she has 12 stalls at Palm Meadows.
"I might run a few at Gulfstream," said Cappuccitti. "First, I'm going to give them a break."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Colita's previous stakes forays have yielded no wins, but he looks like he is in the right spot to earn his first stakes victory on Saturday at Aqueduct in the Grade 3 .
There are no standouts in the eight-horse Stuyvesant field. The 116-pound highweight is Powerful Touch, who is also without a win in a stakes. Colita and Snake Mountain, who won the race in 2002, are next in the weights with 115 pounds each.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs Inc. has eased its position on the 14 riders who have been banned from its flagship racetrack during the ongoing jockey-insurance dispute, saying it will conditionally allow those riders to compete at other company-owned racetracks.
MIAMI - The last time Supah Blitz raced at Calder he was beaten a dozen lengths in the Memorial Day Handicap. When he returns Saturday for the $200,000 Carl G. Rose Handicap, the onetime local hero will be the odds-on favorite in the main race on an outstanding 13-race Florida Million Day program worth nearly $1.3 million in purses.
The Carl G. Rose is one of eight stakes races on the Florida Million card, which will begin at noon. Four of the eight races are for 2-year-olds, and three will be run on the turf. Also on the card are two pick four wagers on the eight stakes.
MIAMI - Stormy Roman and Love That Moon both registered upsets during last year's Florida Million program. On Saturday, Stormy Roman returns to defend his title in the $150,000 Bonnie Heath Turf Cup and Love That Moon is back in the $150,000 Jack Dudley Sprint Handicap, two of the more wide-open races on this year's Florida Million card.
Stormy Roman came from the back of the pack to register a two-length victory over Music's Storm in the 2003 Bonnie Heath, with Proud Man finishing third as the 3-5 favorite.
MIAMI - New York invader Flamenco and local division leader Aclassysassylassy are the marquee attractions in the four 2-year-old races on Saturday's Florida Million card at Calder.
will be a similar price in the $150,000 Joe O'Farrell Stakes. Both races will be decided at seven furlongs.
There are no such standouts in either the $100,000 John Franks Juvenile Fillies Turf or the $100,000 Arthur Appleton Juvenile Turf, both of which drew full fields and will be run at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Areyoutalkintome has been remarkably consistent this year. In 10 starts, he has won four races, including the California Cup Sprint, and finished second five times. But his two worst performances came when he tried to stretch out to 7 1/2 furlongs. One time, he finished third. The other time, he lost by 4 1/2 lengths, even though he finished second.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After returning from Kentucky on Wednesday night, trainer Richard Mandella on Thursday set about the task of preparing his suddenly rejuvenated stock of 3-year-olds, which was enhanced earlier this week by the addition of Rock Hard Ten.
"I just saw him today," Mandella said from his Santa Anita barn, where Rock Hard Ten was transferred from trainer Jason Orman on Tuesday. "He looks good so far."
STICKNEY, Ill. - The High Alexander Handicap was shaping up as something close to a two-horse race. It might still be, but Scooter Roach and Wiggins have plenty of horseflesh to dodge.
When the smoke cleared late Thursday morning, 12 horses had been entered in the High Alexander, the last and best of six $100,000-added Illinois-bred stakes races Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course. The stakes sequence starts in the fourth race with the Powerless Handicap, the weakest of the stakes races, but things build from there.
