ELMONT, N.Y. - Feline Story appears to have found the right spot to turn her fortunes around when she heads a field of five fillies and mares entered in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Floral Park Handicap at Belmont Park.
After a disappointing summer at Saratoga, returns to Belmont, where she has two wins and three narrow losses from seven starts. Trainer Stanley Hough is hoping for improved behavior at the gate from his 4-year-old filly.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Ice Wynnd Fire faced some of the country's best 3-year-old sprinters in the Grade 1 King's Bishop and ran well to finish third. In Saturday's $150,000 Jerome Handicap at Belmont Park, Ice Wynnd Fire stretches out to a mile and should find the added ground to his liking.
is trained by Bobby Frankel, who also will run Coded Warning in the Grade 2 Jerome. The Frankel runners are not coupled in the wagering.
Five other 3-year-olds were entered in the Jerome, which figures to be run over a wet track.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Ticker Tape and Spotlight look like the horses in Saturday's Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington - provided you can find them.
The Pucker Up has attracted something more like a herd than a field. A total of 13 3-year-old fillies were entered in the race, a Grade 3 at nine furlongs on turf. The two favorites have not scared off the competition, though perhaps they should have.
, in from Santa Anita for trainer James Cassidy, already has 5 wins and 6 seconds in 15 grass starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Hollywood Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Touchnow and My Vintage Port, who each won a leg of this year's Canadian triple tiara, will meet again in the $132,625 La Lorgnette Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday.
The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies has also lured a United States shipper, Paiota Falls, along with Rosa Mundi and Surprised Humor.
POMONA, Calif. - The $120,000 Barretts Debutante was merely the contingency plan for She's Salty if the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante proved too tough, which it did. Beaten 10 lengths at Del Mar, front-runner She's Salty aims lower Saturday at Fairplex Park.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Machaera looks like the one to beat in the feature race at Hastings Saturday, a $50,000 optional race for 3-year-olds that drew seven horses. The big question regarding Machaera is his ability to get the 1 1/16-mile distance.
Total handle on live races at River Downs reached $80,237,257 at the 122-day meet that ended Sept. 6. That figure, a daily average of $657,682, reflected a 3.3 percent increase in wagering from out-of-state sources on River Downs races. Ontrack handle dipped less than 1 percent to $10,740,516 while handle from Ohio sources declined 1 percent to $10,319,715.
Rene Douglas, the perennial leading rider at Arlington Park, will relocate to Southern California next week in order to ride when Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting begins on Sept. 29, according to his new agent, Bob Meldahl.
Douglas, 37, is once again atop the jockey standings at Arlington Park, where he is headed to his fourth consecutive title. Douglas has been based in Southern California in the past, and also has ridden with great success in Florida. His biggest victory came in the 1996 Belmont Stakes aboard Editor's Note.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Medallist, who figured to be the favorite in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome Handicap, wasn't entered because he suffered a quarter crack in his right front foot.
On Thursday, the day entries were taken for the Jerome, Medallist's trainer, Allen Jerkens, said, "It just popped, and we patched it."
On Tuesday, Medallist worked six furlongs in a sizzling 1:11.09 on the main track.
Jerkens said he doesn't anticipate the quarter crack to be a major setback for Medallist, who is expected to run again this year.