Firststatedeposit looks like an imposing favorite Friday in the featured ninth race at Louisiana Downs. In his last start, he was second to Gold Storm, and since that July 9 race, Gold Storm has gone on to win the Straus Memorial at Retama and the Arlington BC Sprint.
Firststatedeposit will have an easier task Friday than he did last time, when he was favored over Gold Storm in a money allowance. This time he moves into an allowance that carries an optional claiming price of $30,000.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Pinchme, a Quebec-bred 4-year-old gelding, seeks to regain top form in Friday's featured allowance. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint is for nonwinners of two and attracted a six-horse field.
Trained by Paul LeMasurier, Pinchme finished seventh in the 1 5/16-mile Westerner Handicap here Aug. 22. Since then, Rick Hayes has purchased him privately from the Three Amigos Stable.
Before the Westerner, his first stakes attempt, Pinchme had shown promising form. He was runner-up in a $23,000 claiming race for maidens, then won a special weight maiden race.
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - When Fairmount Park jockey Ramsey Zimmerman dropped veteran agent Mark Cooper a month ago in favor of Jim McComas, rumors were aflutter that Zimmerman was eyeing potentially more lucrative mounts at classier tracks. A win and a third in four starts two weeks ago at Calder aboard Kirk Ziadie-trained mounts did nothing to silence such chatter.
Not so fast, said Zimmerman. The south Florida mounts were purely coincidental, he said, and Fairmount needn't fear an escape attempt by its most prolific rider.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - Clever Moon and Charlies Indian, the one-two finishers in the July 16 Moonbeam Handicap, face five Michigan-bred fillies and mares in the $50,000-guaranteed Farer Belle Lee Handicap at Great Lakes Downs on Friday evening. Tank Grrrl, the 2003 winner of this 1 1/16-mile fixture, is back to defend his title in the race's 17th running.
Trained by Ronnie Allen, Charlies Indian was made the 118-pound highweight and will be ridden by Freddie Mata. Charlies Indian is 3-2-1 in six starts this meet, including the Larkspur Handicap.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - Leading rider Filmer Munaylla is out for the final two weeks of this meet after suffering a broken bone in his lower leg during last Friday's first race. Munaylla was aboard Poppys Grey Cat, who clipped the heels of another horse early in the turn of the 3 1/2-furlong race.
Munaylla was sent flying to the outside of his mount, then appeared to be struck by the chest of another horse while he was falling. He suffered numerous bruises and the broken leg, but the spill appeared far more harmful than it turned out.
CARENCRO, La. - When the curtain comes down on the current season Monday, it will mark the end of an era. Following a Quarter Horse meeting later this fall, racing operations will move 15 miles north on I-49 to the new facility in Opelousas, where the slots portion of the new racino has been in operation since last December. The construction schedule for the new track is running on time, and the new oval should be ready for the 2005 season, which will begin in early April.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings and Canterbury Park have enjoyed a long-standing association that has been bolstered in recent years by several ties between the track and the local NFL franchise.
Track announcer Paul Allen is also the play-by-play announcer for the radio network that broadcasts the Vikings' games on its statewide network of stations. Vikings head coach Mike Tice is a Canterbury regular, and members of the football team and the local jockey colony have competed in a number of charity contests in the last few seasons.
CINCINNATI - For a jockey in the prime of life, there are few worse punishments than being unable to ride races for a substantial length of time. Whether the reason is injury, illness, or suspension, standing by idly while weeks turn into months and months turn into years is an excruciating experience.
Dean Sarvis has been there. Sarvis, 36, is just now beginning to enjoy life again, having spent a little more than four years away from the one thing he loves doing most: riding races.
MIAMI - Entries for Saturday's second annual Juvenile Showcase program closed Monday, giving racing secretary Bob Umphrey five days to beam over a program that drew nearly 11 starters per race and offers over $600,000 in purses. Umphrey will also have the same five days to fret over the prospect of Hurricane Frances blowing away the entire card.
