LEXINGTON, Ky. - With a Grade 3 rating and a $100,000 purse, the Jenny Wiley Stakes certainly didn't have to come up this tough.
But it did. Film Maker, winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last fall, and Intercontinental, quite possibly the latest in a long line of female turf stars for trainer Bobby Frankel, are among the eight horses entered Sunday in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Bruce Headley, best known for his work with sprinters in recent years, needs a win from Rhythm Mad in Sunday's $250,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap for turf marathoners to preserve a winning streak.
Since 1998, Headley has annually scored at least one major stakes win at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. This year, Headley has yet to win a stakes at this meeting, and Rhythm Mad represents his final opportunity.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Glick and Cayoke give trainer Jeff Mullins a formidable team in Sunday's $100,000 San Simeon Handicap on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
, who races near the front, won the El Cielo Handicap March 21 at about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf, the same distance as the San Simeon. Glick, a stalker, won a $100,000 claimer on the hillside course by two lengths on March 12, his second win at this meeting.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Hirapour came to America in 2003 with the reputation of being a top steeplechase runner. Friday, in the Grade 1, $159,375 Royal Chase for the Sport of Kings at Keeneland, he backed up that reputation.
Hirapour, an 8-year-old gelding by Kayasi, outran a brave Preemptive Strike, winning the 2 1/2-mile Royal Chase by 1 3/4 lengths. Rated confidently by jockey Clayton Chipperfield, he stalked the pace in sixth, made a steady backstretch rally on the final lap, and gradually outfinished early leader Preemptive Strike.
STICKNEY, Ill. - The strange saga of Scooter Roach twisted again Saturday at Hawthorne.
Scooter Roach won the $92,000 Milwaukee Avenue Handicap, his biggest score in two years, and as far as anyone knows, his connections actually will receive this purse.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Danny Pish mused Friday morning that he would like to sweep the three Texas-bred stakes for males this meet at Lone Star Park. He accomplished a third of his goal Thursday night when Agrivating General dug in to win the $50,000 Premiere Stakes by a neck over a Desert Darby.
The race was the opening night feature at Lone Star, which drew a crowd of 11,107. Handle on the track's 10-race program was $2,924,147, with $847,788 of that amount bet on track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher, who likely will be represented by Pollard's Vision and Limehouse in the Kentucky Derby, also will see action at Aqueduct on Derby Day in the Grade 2 Withers.
Pletcher will nominate three horses, all of whom ran April 10 at Aqueduct and are owned by Aaron and Marie Jones, to the one-mile Withers - Bay Shore winner Forest Danger; Value Plus, who finished sixth as the favorite in the Wood Memorial; and Shaniko, the winner of an allowance race on the Wood Memorial undercard.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The pickings are getting slim as the 2004 Gulfstream Park meeting heads into its final week. The 92-day meet ends a week from Sunday.
The best race that could be assembled for Sunday's 10-race card was a first-level allowance dash for older fillies and mares, which drew a field of only six. The race carries a $34,000 purse and will be decided at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Elegant Edge should go off as the slight favorite over Sorbet. Completing the field are Kentucky Woman, Dinner Sweets, Shower Scene, and Orbited.
