SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sacramento auto dealer Robert Bone is not afraid to take chances.
"I run them aggressively," he said. "I hate running in spots where I can't win."
Bone, who owns about 60 horses, has come a long way since claiming his first horse with Don Porter, a longtime northern California trainer, 15 years ago.
"I claimed Skip a Folly for $10,000, and she went bad," Bone said. "At that time, $10,000 was everything I had saved up to claim horses."
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Dusty Spike drew the rail for his attempt to repeat last year's victory in the $100,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes on Saturday, the showcase event of the year at Fonner Park. The race drew a field of nine and is run at 1 1/16 miles.
Dusty Spike's chief rival in the race may be Sonic West, who won the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn, a race in which Dusty Spike was fourth.
Eternal Cup and Surf N Sand renew their rivalry when they head a field of seven fillies and mares in Saturday's $50,000 Prairie Rose Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Eternal Cup and Surf N Sand squared off in three stakes at the recently concluded Oaklawn Park meeting, with Eternal Cup scoring victories in both the American Beauty and Carousel stakes and Surf N Sand in the Spring Fever.
They are the 123-pound co-highweights under the allowance conditions of the six-furlong Prairie Rose.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Baba Gonzo should be the odd-on choice against 11 other Ohio-bred fillies and mares in the 12th running of the $40,000 Angenora Stakes at Thistledown.
Baba Gonzo, a 3-year-old bay homebred daughter of Elusive Quality, prepped for this race with a 9 1/2-length win going 5 1/2 furlongs here April 9. She beat older rivals that day and should have little difficulty handling the older females she faces in Saturday's six-furlong race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk is up against some serious opposition here in Saturday's Woodstock, a six-furlong race that is the first stakes of the meeting for 3-year-olds.
But trainer Bob Tiller and owner Frank DiGiulio are hoping to have the last laugh with Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk, who will be looking to begin a journey to the June 27 Queen's Plate when he makes just his second lifetime start after winning his debut very impressively here Nov. 23.
PHOENIX - Turf Paradise celebrates the Arizona-bred Saturday with seven stakes for statebreds, headed by the $40,000 Grand Canyon Handicap.
Komax looks tough in a field of nine in the six-furlong Grand Canyon (race 10 on an 11-race card). Owned by Triple AAA Ranch and trained by Kory Owens, Komax returns from Sunland Park, where he finished second in one stakes and then ran out of the money in three subsequent stakes. He's won 4 of 6 at Turf Paradise.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The road to the $1 million Queen's Plate begins Saturday at Woodbine in the Woodstock Stakes, a six-furlong dash won last year by Wando, who went on to capture the Canadian Triple Crown.
A field of seven 3-year-olds was drawn for the $137,375 event. Two of them are eligible for the June 27 Queen's Plate, which is restricted to Canadian-breds.
LEXINGTON, KY. - Trainer Neil Howard and owner William Farish were left with some pretty big shoes to fill this season after the retirement of Mineshaft, their reigning Horse of the Year. On Thursday, Midway Road gave Howard and Farish the right to think they might have every opportunity to defend their title when he set a track record en route to an 11 1/4-length victory in Keeneland's $150,000 Ben Ali Handicap.
Midway Road covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.78, eclipsing the old track record of 1:46.80, set by Good Command in 1987.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Candy Ride, one of the nation's top handicap horses last year, has been sidelined because of filling in an ankle, trainer Ron McAnally said.
Unbeaten in six starts, Candy Ride has not started since winning the Pacific Classic at Del Mar last summer. He had worked frequently in recent weeks, and was preparing for his 2004 debut.
Candy Ride, 5, underwent X-rays earlier this week but no serious damage was found.
