ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Moment of Peace was supplemented to the Labatt Woodbine Oaks, but when it appeared that task would be too demanding, her trainer, Steve Owens, wasted no time in changing direction.
Moment of Peace switched to turf, and, following a game victory in a first-level allowance over one mile here on June 2, the filly will try to become a stakes winner in Saturday's $125,000 Ontario Damsel.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Conventional wisdom when handicapping the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, is to concentrate on the protagonists in the first race of the series, the Queen's Plate.
"If you weren't first or second in the Queen's Plate, you don't have much of a shot of winning the Prince of Wales," said Bob Summers, the longtime racing writer for the Buffalo News.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The depleted ranks of the California handicap division has left Even the Score a heavy favorite in a short field in Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park.
The Grade 1 Gold Cup lacks the two leading members of the division. Southern Image, the winner of the Santa Anita Handicap and three other stakes since Christmas, is recovering from a foot injury. Pleasantly Perfect, the winner of the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup in March, is preparing for a comeback in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 1.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Rock Hard Ten has earned more hype than success in the major 3-year-old stakes this year.
He was disqualified from second to third in the Santa Anita Derby in April, missed the Kentucky Derby because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes, ran second to Smarty Jones in the Preakness Stakes, and was fifth in the Belmont Stakes.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Every horse running at Hollywood Park on Thursday is either entered for a claiming price or has yet to win.
On the eight-race program, seven races are for claimers, including a sprint for maiden claimers. The third race of the day is a maiden special weight over 1 1/16 miles on turf. An allowance race on dirt for fillies and mares was offered when entries were drawn on Monday, but the race failed to attract a sufficient number of horses.
As a result, the feature race is the seventh, run over 1 1/16 miles on turf for $70,000 to $80,000 claimers.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Medallist put in a strong mile work Tuesday for Sunday's $150,000 Dwyer Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park.
Under jockey Jorge Chavez, who has the call in the Grade 2 Dwyer, Medallist covered the distance in 1:36.24 after the renovation break on Belmont's main track, which was listed fast.
According to the Belmont clockers, Medallist began his work at the seven-eighths pole and clicked off fractions of 24.40 seconds, 59.30, and 1:22.60.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The plan wasn't for Shining Jewel to go to the lead in her last start, but the pace scenario dictated those tactics be used.
On Thursday at Belmont Park, Shining Jewel's trainer, Jim Bond, hopes there is some speed in the $50,000 feature so she can do what she does best: stalk.
Shining Jewel is among eight fillies and mares in the optional claimer. The runners eligible to be claimed for $75,000 in the 1 1/8-mile grass race are Russian Sweetiepie, Katzen, and Sicilian Princess. Bounding Charm was entered main-track only.
MIAMI - Alke worked five furlongs in 1:01.74 seconds at Belmont Park on Tuesday morning, but whether he will run in Saturday's $500,000 Smile Sprint Handicap remained up in the air. The Smile and the $500,000 Princess Rooney Handicap are the richest of the six stakes that make up the $1.75 million Summit of Speed program.
Alke suffered a quarter crack late last week, and his trainer Todd Pletcher said getting in a work on Tuesday was key if his horse had any chance of making the Smile.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Business at the 53-day Churchill Downs spring meet that ended Monday showed substantial across-the-board declines, leading track officials to call once again for a way to compete more effectively against other forms of gambling in neighboring states.
Average ontrack attendance and handle were down by 13 and 9 percent, respectively, from the 2003 spring meet, which had 52 days of racing, while average all-sources handle was down 10 percent.
CHICAGO - Of course there are horses for courses, but there also are courses that horses abhor.
And there is little doubt now that Bedanken wants nothing to do with the grass at Lone Star Park. In two recent Texas turf tries, Bedanken was a substandard third and a surprisingly bad eighth, both times against competition the likes of which she had beaten before.
