LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Roses in May came out of his victory in the Kentucky Cup Classic on Saturday in perfect shape and will resume training Wednesday toward the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star Park, trainer Dale Romans said Monday at his Churchill Downs base.
"He ate up, walked sound, all that good stuff," said Romans. "Now we'll look forward to going to Texas."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $600,000 question that faced Soaring Free here Sunday was whether he would be at his best at the distance of the , particularly when a hot pace seemed likely.
But when Soaring Free found himself with only one front-running companion, his rider, Todd Kabel, seized the day, and Soaring Free was good enough to hold sway down the long, 1,440-foot stretch of this 1 1/2-mile turf course.
"A mile is probably the absolute maximum distance he wants to go," said Mark Frostad, who trains Soaring Free for Sam-Son Farm. "Seven furlongs is his best trip."
Imperialism worked a bullet Saturday for the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby, and as of Monday the race's probable favorite had one more rival to beat with the commitment of a ninth starter, Mr. Jester.
The 1 1/8-mile Super Derby will be run Saturday at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
worked at his Santa Anita base, traveling seven furlongs in company in 1:24.40. He is scheduled to fly into Shreveport, La., on Wednesday for owner Steve Taub and trainer Kristin Mulhall. The race will be his first start since finishing fifth in the Preakness Stakes on May 15.
CHICAGO - Arlington Park broke out of the gate slowly but finished full of run, concluding its 2004 meet on Sunday with increases in total and ontrack handle. And Arlington shook off notions that it limps home after Labor Day, with a strong final two weeks bolstered by remarkable closing-day business.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Eddington had his first work since finishing third in the Travers Stakes on Monday at Belmont Park. Following the work, trainer Mark Hennig said he is pointing Eddington to the $300,000 Pegasus at The Meadowlands on Oct. 1.
Eddington covered five furlongs in 1:01.43 on the main track, which was listed as fast.
"I was very pleased; he came home in 24 [seconds]," Hennig said.
Eddington was beaten six lengths by Birdstone in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 28.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Pedigree versus race record is what separates Great Pyramid and Polo Grounds, a two-horse entry trained by Kiaran McLaughlin in Wednesday's eighth race at Belmont Park.
, a full brother to multiple Group 1 winner Rock of Gibraltar, was bought for approximately $600,000 at Goffs in Ireland as a yearling. He has won one race from 13 starts. Polo Grounds, purchased at auction for $35,000 as a yearling, has a win and a second from two starts.
POMONA, Calif. - Fairplex Park has scheduled another $200,000-guaranteed pick four pool for Saturday, one week after bettors poured a track-record $296,427 into the guaranteed pick four last Saturday. The guarantee was a first for Fairplex, and longshots in three of the races caused the $1 bet to return a Fairplex record $38,535.60.
POMONA, Calif. - Cherokee Spires will be favored to extend her winning streak to three when she starts as an overwhelming favorite Wednesday in the $60,000 Black Swan Stakes at Fairplex Park.
Eight juvenile fillies entered the Black Swan, a 1 1/16-mile race that marks a new challenge. Cherokee Spires's first three races were one-turn sprints. She races three turns Wednesday on the five-eighth-mile Fairplex oval.
"The way she ran at Del Mar, I think she'll do it," trainer Cliff Sise said. "She acts good right now."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Brian Koriner said he was not surprised by Wind Water's wire-to-wire victory in the San Mateo Stakes at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Wind Water was third in the Malcolm Anderson in his debut and won the Everett Nevin-Alameda County Futurity in his next start.
But while the victory did not surprise him, Koriner was surprised by how easily Wind Water made the lead.
"I thought somebody would go with him," Koriner said.
Racing at Charles Town Races in West Virginia has been canceled indefinitely as the track conducts repairs of its racing surface, a spokesman for the track's owner, Penn National Gaming Inc., said Monday.
"We found some wet spots on the track, so we closed it as a precautionary measure," said the spokesman, Eric Schippers. The wet spots were making portions of the racing surface "uneven," Schippers said.
