ALTOONA, Iowa - Wild Wild West seeks his first stakes score when he leads a field of six Iowa-bred 3-year-olds in Sunday's $50,000-added Gray's Lake Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Wild Wild West began his career here on Aug. 29 with a second-place finish against open maidens. Trainer Kelly Von Hemel then gave the gelded son of Slewacide a six-month layoff. He returned to the races in March at Oaklawn Park and proceeded to run second twice in a row.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Blue Guru, already a visitor to five different tracks this year, continues her national tour here Sunday in the inaugural running of the Fleur de Lis Stakes. The mile and 70-yard headliner drew a field of six fillies and mares gunning for the $50,000 purse.
Trained by Shane Wilson for Cunningham Racing, Blue Guru has but one win to show for her travels this year. It came at Oaklawn Park early in the year in a stakes-caliber optional claiming field. Most recently, Blue Guru finished third in stakes at Delta Downs and Sunland Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Le Cinquieme Essai was Canada's champion 3-year-old male in 2002. Last year, he found the going much tougher.
But by finishing a troubled but encouraging third in his 2004 bow, Le Cinquieme Essai served notice that he could regain much of his lost luster this season, with Sunday's Connaught Cup over 1 1/16 miles of turf a good starting point.
"Last year, he trained as well as he ever did," said Nielsen. "But it was pretty tough for him to top the year he had before, when he was with his own kind."
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Iwoodificould makes his Assiniboia Downs debut in Sunday's featured eighth race, a six-furlong allowance for older horses with a purse of $16,000.
Privately purchased by his new trainer, Emile Corbel, and partners in March, Iwoodificould has not raced since last September at Woodbine when he finished second behind subsequent stakes winner Chris's Bad Boy.
Iwoodificould raced seven times in 2003, winning three and earning $74,626. He breaks from post 3 with Vince Guerra up.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Trainer Armand Concessi changed his pre-season training routine last year and dropped Woodbine as a spring-training site.
The daily 190-mile round trip from Fort Erie to Woodbine, to take advantage of Woodbine's earlier opening, was a little too taxing, Concessi thought. But the decision turned out to be costly.
"I was slow, very slow, to get going last year," Concessi said.
Normally a quick starter, he managed only one win out of 20 starts in the first month last year. In 2002, in roughly the same period, he had three wins in 15 starts.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The summer wind comes blowin' in for New Jersey racing fans Saturday afternoon when Monmouth Park reopens for its 59th season.
Monmouth gets under way at 12:55 p.m. for the first of 87 dates, with the season continuing through Sept. 26 at the Jersey Shore's resort track.
This should be an upbeat meet thanks to record purse money. A supplement from the state's casinos will enable Monmouth to offer $320,000 per day before Labor Day.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Long before Smarty Jones blazed his way to Triple Crown glory, jockey Stewart Elliott decided the time had come to move along.
Like many riders and trainers based at Philadelphia Park, Elliott was frustrated by the legislative failures in Pennsylvania to secure slot machines for the state's racetracks.
After due consideration with agent Ray Lopez, Elliott opted to return to Monmouth Park this summer.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - As turf sprints have long been a staple of the Monmouth Park stakes program, it comes as no surprise that $55,000 Gilded Time Stakes is one of the supporting features on Saturday's opening card.
The five-furlong dash for 3-year-olds attracted a full field of 12 with three alternates. Most of the runners will be getting their first taste of grass, adding an element of uncertainty for handicappers.
Those looking for proven turf runners will gravitate to Biloxi Pride and Honor Prayer, who both captured turf sprints at the Fair Grounds over the winter.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Meridiana and Alternate, separated by a nose in last month's Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland, renew acquaintances Saturday in the Grade 2, $150,000 Sheepshead Bay Handicap at Belmont Park.
brings a three-race winning streak into the Sheepshead Bay for trainer Christophe Clement, who has won this 1 3/8-mile race three times since 1993.
ELMONT, N.Y. - When trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Eugene Melnyk decided to stop on Strong Hope following last year's Travers, they did so hoping to have a fresh horse for this year's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.
With the exception of Strong Hope finishing second in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, Pletcher and Melnyk's plan has worked out very well, as Strong Hope appears to sitting on a huge race in Monday's $750,000 Met Mile.
