SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Jake Mauer and Thatusintheolbean will be inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Jake Mauer has been a fixture at Canterbury since its early days, selling his familiar "green sheet" selections to several generations of local horseplayers. A former boxer, Mauer is the patriarch of a formidable family of athletes, including grandson Joe Mauer, a catcher for the Minnesota Twins.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Halory Leigh ran well enough in her turf debut last time out for trainer Dale Romans to give her another try on that surface. That second chance will come Saturday at Saratoga in the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana Handicap at nine furlongs.
Halory Leigh, who won a minor stakes on dirt last year, finished second in the Grade 2 Locust Grove Handicap on turf at Churchill Downs on June 26.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Alex Solis, who suffered a fractured vertebra in a one-horse spill last Friday at Del Mar, underwent surgery to stabilize his spine on Tuesday, but is unlikely to ride until the end of the year, according to his agent, Scotty McClellan.
Solis underwent a four-hour operation at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla to have a rod inserted in his back to stabilize the injury to his T-5 vertebra. McClellan spoke with Solis's son Alex Jr. late Tuesday night.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Seven older runners meet in Friday's feature at the Sonoma County Fair, a $25,000 optional claimer at six furlongs that appears to be Geardown's race to lose.
Geardown already has three victories this year, although he has not won since being claimed for $40,000 by trainer John Martin for Robert Bone at Santa Anita on March 26. He has picked up checks in four of his five starts for Martin, including two seconds at Bay Meadows and a third in a strong allowance race behind Lunar Lion in his last start, on July 9 at Pleasanton.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Belleski's streak of eight consecutive finishes in the top three ended last November, when she ran last of 14 in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park.
The resounding defeat came with an excuse: She emerged from the race with an ankle injury.
On Friday, Belleski, 5, makes her first start of 2004 in the $75,000 Daisycutter Handicap at Del Mar. Trainer John Sadler considers the Daisycutter a launch to more important stakes in the summer and fall.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sheer Enchantment will be facing her stiffest test to date when she takes on Eye of the Sphynx and Touchnow in Sunday's $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes at Woodbine.
But Sheer Enchantment, who is owned by Kelynack Racing Stable and trained by Abraham Katryan, has one potentially important credential in her favor.
While Eye of the Sphynx and Touchnow both will be trying a new distance and surface in the Wonder Where, Sheer Enchantment comes into the race off a 6 3/4-length victory over the same 1 1/4 miles of grass she will negotiate Sunday.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - When Smarty Jones is ready to run, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will do everything within its power to lure the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to Monmouth Park or The Meadowlands Racetrack.
Trainer John Servis announced this week that Smarty Jones will not make the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 6 because of a bruised left front foot.
The NJSEA, which owns Monmouth and The Meadowlands, has the Pegasus Handicap for 3-year-olds available as the fallback position for Smarty Jones's first race since finishing second in the Belmont Stakes.
Imprints in Gold, a 6-year-old gelding, has been a claimer for almost his entire career. Running for claiming prices between $10,000 and $35,000 at tracks in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York, Imprints in Gold has been a consistent performer, finishing first or second 25 times in 49 starts.
Friday night at Penn National, Imprints in Gold has a big shot to become a stakes winner.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The biggest racing weekend of the year at Assiniboia Downs kicks off Friday, when the feature is the $20,000 North Dakota Stallion Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race restricted to 3-year-olds eligible through the North Dakota Thoroughbred Association.
The weekend also includes the $40,000 Frank Arnason, a six-furlong race for Manitoba-bred 2-year-olds on Saturday; and the $40,000 Winnipeg Sun, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares on Sunday.