HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Alan Seewald got exactly what he was looking for and colleague Mark Hennig got what he feared most when entries were drawn for Saturday's $100,000 Artax Handicap.
Seewald was hoping for a lot of speed to help set up the late run of Vinemeister in the Artax. Hennig wanted anything but post position No. 1 for Gygistar, who will be the highweight and likely favorite in the seven-furlong dash.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Meadows fans will get a double dose of stakes action on Saturday. Older sprinters will run in the six-furlong Governor's Speed Handicap, and 3-year-old fillies will race in the mile Mt. St. Helens Stakes.
The Governor's Speed was scheduled for last Saturday, but was called off when only Yesss, Knightsbridge Road, Star of Elttaes, and Lovers Son were entered. Director of racing Jerry Kohls rescheduled the stakes in hopes of attracting one more entrant, and his hope was realized when trainer Vannessa Hunt entered City Parkway.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Puffy Shirt could be tested at this meet for the first time Saturday, when she takes on stakes winners See How She Runs, Surf N Sand, and Eternal Cup in the $50,000 Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
The Carousel is a six-furlong race for fillies and mares and is the third and final sprint stakes of the meet for the division. Eternal Cup won the first race in the series, the $50,000 American Beauty on Feb. 7, and Surf N Sand won the $50,000 Spring Fever Stakes on March 7.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - The dynamics of Saturday's $250,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks changed dramatically Wednesday afternoon when trainer Bob Baffert decided that Yearly Report would not make the trip after she was medicated for muscle cramps following a morning gallop. While it was bad news for Sunland officials, her competitors breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Dang the bad luck," Steve Asmussen's local assistant, Tony Mathiasen, commented dryly when he heard the news.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Saturday's Mt. St. Helens Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile offers an intriguing matchup between Quiz the Maid, the 7 1/4-length winner of the six-furlong Ms Stakes on Feb. 7, and So Happy Together, who was 4 1/2 lengths best in the one-mile Mary Goldblatt Stakes for Oregon-bred fillies on March 6.
Cherokee Casino, which is owned by the Cherokee Nation, has became the second Native American organization in Oklahoma to buy a racetrack, announcing Wednesday that it had purchased Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla. Last fall, the Choctaw tribe bought Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw.
The purchase price was not disclosed, but racing will be brought back to the track, which did not run a meet in 2003.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Minister Eric's tight schedule can afford no interruptions. The 3-year-old colt remains a Kentucky Derby candidate, but time is running out. Minister Eric has raced just once since his second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, which means his second start of the season - a one-other-than allowance race Saturday at Santa Anita - may determine if he is still a legitimate Derby contender.
ALBANY, Calif. - As Brent Sumja, the trainer of Jets Fan, studied the field for Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Berkeley Breeders' Cup Handicap at Golden Gate Fields, he came to one conclusion.
"This should be a $200,000 to $250,000 purse," he said. "The horse that wins this decision should get a bigger purse."
Sumja is correct that the talent level of the six runners in the one-mile race is high.
Taste of Paradise won the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar last year. Multiple stakes winner Yougottawanna won the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby as a 2-year-old.
If Placid Star runs as fast on turf as on dirt, her 12 opponents in the Sarah Lane's Oates Handicap probably are running for second. And if she does not, Placid Star still might win the $100,000 Sarah Lane's Oates, the Saturday feature at Fair Grounds.
Spritely Walker, who is perhaps the best Louisiana-bred in training, will try to extend his winning streak to five on Saturday night when he moves into open company for the $100,000 Gulf Coast Classic at Delta Downs.
His task will not be easy. The 1 1/16-mile race has drawn a deep field of eight older horses, including Kodema, Crowned King, Prince Slew, and Classic Par.
The Gulf Coast is the closing-night feature at Delta. The track, which operates a slots casino, has had perhaps its most successful meet since opening 30 years ago.