Turfway Park saved one of the best stakes of its fall meet for last.
The Turfway Park Fall Championship, to be run Saturday at the Florence, Ky., track, drew a nine-horse field that appears to exceed its stature as a Grade 3 race with a $100,000 purse. In fact, a handful of horses who might have been competitive Saturday in the $750,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup were entered here instead.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Based on class, it's difficult to get past Bwana Charlie in Saturday's $100,000 Alysheba Breeders' Cup for 3-year-old sprinters at Lone Star Park. A big performance in the race could advance the colt to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint here on Oct. 30, according to trainer Steve Asmussen.
The Alysheba has been shortened from seven furlongs to six to serve as a prep for the BC Sprint. Bwana Charlie is one of seven horses in the Alysheba, which also drew Kentucky shippers Danieltown and Scat Sam Man.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - A real estate developer is working with the city of Nashua, N.H., to build a $100 million retail and entertainment center anchored by a racetrack on land near the Massachusetts border.
The idea of bringing a new track into the New England region after a steady decline of Thoroughbred racing here seems strange to industry insiders, including Ed Callahan, the general manager of Rockingham Park, which gave up the sport two years ago in favor of harness racing.
Kentucky-based trainer Tom Amoss doesn't ship to Pimlico for a stakes race very often. But when he does, his horses are always well meant.
Amoss, who has 2 wins and 3 thirds with the six stakes horses he has saddled at Pimlico since 1998, figures to have a big shot with Gilded Gold in Saturday's $150,000 Safely Kept Breeders' Cup. The Grade 3 race, contested at six furlongs, drew a field of seven 3-year-old fillies.
Despite the presence of previous Kelso Handicap winners Country Be Gold and Lyracist, Private Lap is clearly the horse to beat in this year's edition of the $100,000 Kelso at Delaware Park.
The 5-year-old Private Lap has an amazing record of 8 wins and 3 seconds in 11 lifetime starts over Delaware's main track. His three losses were by the slimmest of margins - a head, a nose, and a neck.
The only question mark is the distance. Although Private Lap is 3 for 8 at 1 1/8 miles, he has never raced beyond that distance. The Kelso will be contested at 1 3/16 miles.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sunday's running of the Mazarine Stakes certainly isn't shaping up as the toughest ever, yet it will offer a purse in the neighborhood of $275,000.
That combination of circumstances is much to the liking of trainer Sandy McPherson, who plans to send out both Didycheatamandhowe and Hassayampa in the Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-old fillies.
"We're not in it for the glory," McPherson said at trackside Thursday morning. "We're in it for the money."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - On paper, it looked like last Sunday's British Columbia Derby was going to be a competitive race. However, it ended up being a walk in the park for Flamethrowintexan, who dominated the race and won by a widening 8 1/2 lengths over Lord Samarai.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Before ground was even broken for the construction of Lone Star Park, officials were thinking Breeders' Cup. Now, a decade later, the track's moment has arrived.
In less than one month, Lone Star will host the $14 million Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. The eight-race series will be held on Oct. 30, and it is the focal point of a 19-date meet that opens on Friday night. The season will run through Oct. 31.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Most horses pointing for the Breeders' Cup will ship in the week of the event, but there is a small contingent of locals hoping to be part of the most important day in the history of Lone Star Park.
The biggest participant with local ties could be trainer Steve Asmussen, who will be shooting for his sixth Lone Star title during the 19-night Breeders' Cup meet that opens Friday night.
ANDERSON, Ind. - Stellar Jayne should start as a deserving favorite in Friday night's $400,000-added Indiana Breeders' Cup Oaks, but the eight others, including recent Grade 2 winner Capeside Lady, have solid designs on the race themselves.
D. Wayne Lukas brings in , one of the more accomplished fillies ever to run in the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, now in its fourth year as a Grade 3. She has been first or second in her past five starts, including the last four against Grade 1 company, and has won the Mother Goose and Gazelle at Belmont Park.
