BOSSIER CITY, La. - Outright Buck has progressed all meet at Louisiana Downs, and on Saturday she can win the richest stakes the track offers for her division: the $100,000 Marie P. DeBartolo Breeders' Cup Handicap.
The race is one of three turf stakes on the Super Derby undercard. The others are the $75,000 Harrah's Juvenile and the $50,000 Donnie Wilhite Memorial.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Cryptograph is quietly coming into Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs as a threat to favorites Imperialism and Borrego.
He has been working much sharper than usual. He won a stakes at the Super Derby distance of 1 1/8 miles in his last start. And he has been purposely freshened for the race by a barn that wins at an above-average rate with its layoff horses. He should be ready for a peak race.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Away from the races for eight months, Changing World was so rank in an allowance race last month at Saratoga that her trainer, Barclay Tagg, couldn't bear to watch her run.
"She was rank and ran off; I put my glasses down," Tagg said, recalling the early stages of that Aug. 19 race at Saratoga.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Funny Cide and Evening Attire signaled their readiness for the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup with sharp workouts Thursday morning at Belmont Park. Now they just need their trainers to be equally prepared to run.
Barclay Tagg, who trains Funny Cide, and Pat Kelly, who trains Evening Attire, both appear to be leaning toward starting their geldings in the Jockey Club Gold Cup here Oct. 2, but they did not commit on Thursday.
ELMONT, N.Y. - With Quantum Merit sidelined by injury, the New York-bred division of male turf horses is wide open. Several of the division's top runners will square off in Saturday's $100,000-added Ashley T. Cole Handicap at Belmont Park.
For some of the runners in the 10-horse field, the Cole, a 1 1/8-mile turf race, will serve as a stepping-stone to the $150,000 Mohawk Handicap on New York Showcase Day on Oct. 23.
Kentucky Downs may be an out-of-the-way place, but plenty of in-the-know horsemen sure have figured out how to get there. Top trainers and jockeys find their way to the south-central Kentucky town of Franklin every September to compete against each other, most notably when the lucrative purses of the Kentucky Cup turf series are up for grabs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Just to make sure, trainer Tony Reinstedler sent Sand Springs to Kentucky Downs from his Churchill Downs base a few days early.
"She's a little strong-minded," Reinstedler said with a shake of the head, a roll of the eyes, and a somewhat exasperated chuckle. "I thought it would be a good idea to send her down there to get used to her surroundings."
Brice Blanc admits that his knowledge of turf courses can be overrated.
"I'm no gardener," he said with a grin.
Blanc has earned a national reputation as an outstanding grass rider, and he often is sought out for his services - and even his opinions - when live racing moves each September to Kentucky Downs, the all-turf course in Franklin, Ky.
Blanc, 31, began his riding career in his native France, where racecourses are somewhat similar to the one at Kentucky Downs - undulating and asymmetrical, with long straightaways and turns both sweeping and tight.
The last time Western Ransom and Art Fan raced in Maryland, they finished one-two, separated by less than a length.
Nearly five months have passed since then, but when the two 3-year-old fillies return to Pimlico for Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Martha Washington, they could be quite close at the wire again.
Western Ransom, who won the May 8 Old Hilltop as the even-money favorite, and Art Fan, beaten three-quarters of a length in that race at 12-1, are the most accomplished turf runners in a full field of 12, plus an also-eligible, for the 1 1/16-mile Martha Washington.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bettors should get plenty of run for their money in Saturday's wide-open $55,000-added Hillsborough Handicap at Bay Meadows.
Seven fillies and mares were entered in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, including the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained entry of Marwood and Cat Alert. The pair ran one-two in the one-mile Autumn Leaves over the course and should be favored Saturday.
