HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Sue's Good News, who went from maiden winner to Grade 3 winner in five short months last year, returns to the track where it all started in Saturday's $50,000 Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
A 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, the Pippin is a stepping-stone to the Grade 3 Oaklawn Breeders' Cup on March 13 and the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 3.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The three-race win streak that makes Lennyfromalibu the favorite in Saturday's $100,000 Sensational Star Handicap at Santa Anita may be only a preview of the gelding's ability, trainer Barry Abrams said.
Since returning from a seven-month break last October, has won 3 of 5 starts. He pulled a 25-1 upset in the California Cup Mile last November and has won two optional claimers on the hillside turf course since this meeting began in late December.
The New York Racing Association plans to reduce its takeout on the pick six on non-carryover days from 20 percent to 15 percent, the chairman of NYRA, Barry Schwartz, said Thursday.
The reduction would have to be approved by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, which next meets on Feb. 25. Schwartz said he would make the request in time for the change to take effect at the start of the next fiscal quarter, April 1.
Joining a practice that is gaining momentum among racetracks, Oaklawn Park will withhold its signal from approximately five offshore wagering sites whose clientele utilize computerized "batch" technology. The technology enables large wagers to be placed just before betting on a race closes.
NEW ORLEANS - Owner Mike Gill claimed four horses on Monday at Fair Grounds and two more midway through Thursday's card, but Gill's local trainer, Gamaliel Vazquez, said Gill has no intention of going on a long-term claiming spree at Fair Grounds.
NEW ORLEANS - When the owner Greg England and trainer Bret Calhoun privately purchased Josie G. last fall, they were hoping to come up with a useful allowance-class horse. What they have is the likely favorite for Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Stately's Choice, who came up a head short to Chancy Chancy in the City of Roses last time out after a heated stretch battle, won't have to worry about that rival in Saturday's $10,000 Sweetheart Handicap for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles.
Chancy Chancy had been expected to race in the Sweetheart but was absent when the race was drawn. Dave Runyon, who owns and trains Chancy Chancy, had said that he planned to run Chancy Chancy in the Sweetheart and then to turn her out for a rest.
Familiarity with Laurel Park and its seven-furlong chute may be more important handicapping factors than experience in graded stakes when it comes to gauging the 12 fillies and mares entered in Saturday's Barbara Fritchie Handicap.
Unlike the past two runnings of the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie, both won by locally based sprint star Xtra Heat, this year's edition of the $200,000 stakes worth lured almost no one with graded stakes credentials, let alone a win against graded company.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - It's ironic that the 18th running of Saturday's $100,000 Tampa Bay Downs Breeders' Cup will be run the day before the start of the 2004 NASCAR season because there's enough speed in this field of turf specialists to warrant roll bars and restrictor plates.
That's why many trip and pace scenario handicappers will be leaning toward stalkers and deep closers such as French Charmer and Remind when they make their selections for the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
ALBANY, Calif. - There is no such thing as an easy sprint stakes at Golden Gate Fields, and the seven who entered Saturday's $55,000-added Richmond Handicap for fillies or mares all have their work cut out for them.
The field figures to be contentious leaving the gate and at the wire, and post position may determine the winner of this race, which has an abundance of speed.
Argentine Grade 1 winner Talk Me Again, perhaps the quickest member of the field, drew the rail. Drawing post 3 was Goldy Rock, who just scored a wire-to-wire victory in an allowance race here.