EDMONTON, Alberta - Sweet Monarch, who scratched out of last weekend's Wild Rose, runs in Friday's featured optional claiming event. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint has drawn a field of 10, including an Yves Trudel-trained entry of To Dream Again and Code's Decree.
Sweet Monarch ran second in both of her outings this year and has drawn the rail with Quincy Welch up.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Two top northern California-based sprinters flew to Florida on Wednesday for a pair of stakes Saturday at Calder that will be simulcast at the Alameda County Fair.
Ema Bovary, whose nine-race winning streak was snapped when she ran second to Coconut Girl in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes at Hollywood Park on June 5, will run in the Grade 2, $500,000 Princess Rooney.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Looking to sustain the momentum from a successful Thoroughbred meeting, Prairie Meadows begins its 47-day mixed meeting Friday evening.
The 49-day Thoroughbred meeting, which ended Sunday, saw total daily average handle increase more than 20 percent from 2003.
The mixed meeting runs through Sept. 25 with racing to be conducted on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and Friday and Saturday evenings. The mixed meet consists mainly of 10-race programs. The first six races are for Thoroughbreds, and the final four races each day for Quarter Horses.
Injuries hit several jockeys during the Prairie Meadows Thoroughbred meet, which concluded Sunday.
Terry Thompson, who finished second to Tim Doocy in the rider standings, missed the final weekend of racing and will be out indefinitely after breaking his right leg in a three-horse spill. Glenn Corbett, who finished third in the standings, missed several days of racing at the beginning of June and rode the remainder of the meeting with a broken bone in his leg, the result of a May 25 accident in which he was unseated leaving the starting gate.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Owner-trainer Stephen Ford Jr. unveiled a serious runner at Thistledown last Saturday, when first-time starter Whitermorn was the easiest kind of winner. Whitermorn won a six-furlong maiden special race by 16 lengths, going the distance in 1:10.98.
Trainer Beverly McNeely swept the Firecracker Stakes series for Quarter Horses at Delta Downs last Sunday night, when she won the Grade 2, $215,250 Firecracker Futurity with Wings of La Jolla, and the Grade 2, $100,500 Firecracker Derby with Jack Zee Quick.
Wings of La Jolla paid $34.80, and Jack Zee Quick paid $5.80.
Jack Zee Quick set a track record for 400 yards in the derby, when he covered the distance in 19.64 seconds under Eddie Cox. Wings of La Jolla remained perfect in three starts with his win in the Futurity. He was ridden by Steve Fuller.
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Ramsey Zimmerman has long been a proficient jockey, having ridden at Arlington and Hawthorne earlier in his six-year career.
But it wasn't until Zimmerman, a 22-year-old Chicago-area native, set up stakes at Fairmount Park and began garnering top mounts from its leading stables that he began to appear near the top of the national leaderboard. Through July 5, Zimmerman ranks fourth among jockeys in total wins, with 156.
CARENCRO, La. - Smilin Fine's win last Saturday night in the $100,000 D.S. "Shine" Young Memorial Futurity did not exactly go as scripted, according to Smilin Fine's trainer, Troy Young, and rider, Gerard Melancon.
"He was sick after his trial," said Young. "I worked him with an old mare last week to keep him focused."
Melancon agreed, saying, "We weren't sure he was 100 percent until the workout at Louisiana Downs."
Smilin Fine worked four furlongs in 49.20 seconds over a sloppy Louisiana Downs track June 27.
LINCOLN, Neb. - My Dad's Bad found an extra five-eighths of a mile just to his liking when he defended his crown in Sunday's Budweiser Marathon Starter Handicap at two miles.
My Dad's Bad rallied but fell a half-length short to Gun Runner in the 1 3/8-mile leg of the series June 20. On Sunday it was a much different story. My Dad's Bad took the lead just after 1 3/8 miles and coasted home a 20-length winner under Filmer Munaylla in 3:35.80 over a muddy strip. Gun Runner finished second.
In an effort to boost live attendance, River Downs is altering the 7 & 7 format with Thistledown beginning Friday and for every subsequent Friday through Sept. 3. Both tracks will continue to run seven live races each Friday, but rather than alternate races throughout the 14-race card, River Downs will run more of its races toward the end of the program.