MIAMI - Stay Forever and Mr. Livingston, two of the top grass horses stabled on the grounds, were both conspicuous by their absence when the field left the gate for Saturday's Grade 3 Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap.
Stay Forever, a mare, was entered and would likely have been the favorite against males in the Miami Mile, but trainer Marty Wolfson decided to scratch her even after it became apparent the race would be run on grass as scheduled.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Justin Nixon signed on with Stronach Stable two years ago, prepared to go wherever asked to contribute to the operation.
Nixon, 35, could hardly have expected to find himself in the limelight in a race such as the Atto Mile, but that is exactly where he will be for Sunday's edition of the Grade 1, $1 million turf feature - with Royal Regalia.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Horse players chasing the $63,528 pick six carryover here on Wednesday likely will rely heavily on a pair of Belmont Park-loving horses who figure prominently in two of the sequence's six races.
, 5 for 9 at Belmont with two runner-up finishes to Ghostzapper in graded stakes, heads a competitive seven-horse field in the featured $58,000 classified allowance race at six furlongs. One race earlier, Fleet Indian - 3 for 3 at Belmont - drops into allowance company after trying the Grade 1 Alabama.
CHICAGO - Excuse-making is a cottage industry in Thoroughbred racing. The trainer Jim DiVito isn't even going there. Coach Jimi Lee simply threw in a clunker Aug. 28 at Arlington. He finished fifth, beaten 13 lengths in the Arlington Sprint, a race that on paper he seemed to fit.
"Why'd he run like that? That's a good question," DiVito said. "I can't really come up with the reason."
POMONA, Calif. - Excess Summer could be rusty when he returns from an eight-month layoff in the $60,000 Governor's Handicap on Wednesday at Fairplex Park. But wager against the best horse in the 6 1/2-furlong race? Trainer Jeff Mullins cautions bettors not to overlook the obvious.
"He loves this racetrack, and we've got [Martin] Pedroza up," Mullins said.
Excess Summer romped in the 2003 Pomona Derby, but has not raced since January after surgery to remove an ankle chip. Can he win first start back? "I think he can," Mullins said, with a ring of confidence.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The defection of Grade 1 winner Peace Rules leaves hometown turf heroes Soaring Free and Perfect Soul as the big names for Sunday's Grade 1, $1 million Atto Mile.
Trainer Bobby Frankel had been pointing Peace Rules for the Atto Mile, but told the Woodbine media department that the colt would not be making the trip.
"He coughed this morning, we scoped him, and he was full of mucus," said Frankel from Belmont Park on Sunday.
Beau Brass, lightly regarded at 17-1, ran down 6-5 favorite Illusive Force to prevail by a length in the $100,000 Speed to Spare at Northlands Park on Saturday.
Bubblegum Kid, who won the 1 3/8-mile Speed to Spare in 2002, ended another four lengths back in third at 41-1.
Beau Brass, ridden by Real Simard, came into the Speed to Spare off a fourth-place finish behind winner Illusive Force in the Westerner, run over 1 5/16 miles of sloppy going on Aug. 22.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Despite an arduous stretch drive, which featured a few body bumps, both Ghostzapper and Saint Liam have come out of Saturday's stirring Woodward Stakes in good shape and will now be pointed to the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30.
Neither horse will run before then, the connections of both confirmed on Monday. While Ghostzapper - whose neck victory over Saint Liam kept him unbeaten in three starts this year - will definitely make the field, Saint Liam could be in need of help should the Classic oversubscribe at pre-entry time, Oct. 18.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Trainer Murray Johnson said Monday that Perfect Drift will not attempt to defend his championship Saturday in the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic, a development that will make Roses in May an even heavier favorite in the richest of the five Kentucky Cup races at Turfway Park in Florence.
POMONA, Calif. - The dominating debut by Houseofroyalhearts on Saturday at Fairplex Park will catapult the 2-year-old colt directly into a graded stakes. Trainer Cliff Sise said Houseofroyalhearts "couldn't blow out a match" after his 4 1/2-length victory, and the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita is likely to be the colt's next start. Houseofroyalhearts, a homebred son of Chester House owned by Larry Williams, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 75. The number does him little justice.
