It is common for a racetrack to name a stakes in honor of an important horseman or personality who has done much to raise the profile of Thoroughbred racing. An example is the $100,000 Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity, Saturday's feature at Hawthorne, which honors the former Illinois governor, who was a major proponent of racing during his administration.
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DRF Past Performances
FLORENCE, Ky. - Ready and Tough is headed south to Florida in the coming weeks. In the meantime, she is taking a detour to race in a stakes at Turfway Park.
A winner of two of three starts, she will race in Saturday's $50,000 Gowell Stakes at Turfway before pursuing more lucrative races at Gulfstream Park over the winter. In a field of 10 runners at six furlongs, she is a short-priced standout.
For a speed horse, a race can be lost at the break, and it appears that was the case for Miss Photogenic in her last start. That's what her rider, Roman Chapa, believes, too, and he is looking for Miss Photogenic to turn in a strong effort Saturday night in the $35,000 San Felipe at Sam Houston Race Park.
Close but no cigar might be the best way to describe the top contenders in the $40,000 Gardenia at Delta Downs on Saturday night. The 6 1/2-furlong race for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares is restricted to starters who have never won a stakes.
Light Fling, who ran third to top Louisiana-bred mare Prized Amberpro last out in the $75,000 Magnolia, will add blinkers for the Gardenia. She has worked well for the race, which will be her third start back from a layoff. Steve Bourque, the leading rider at Delta, has the mount for trainer Doris Hebert.
There's certainly a huge difference between a Grade 1 stakes and a stakes restricted to Maryland-breds. Whether the class drop is enough for Aggadan to snap a five-race losing streak is a question handicappers must ask themselves.
Although Aggadan is coming off a pair of triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in Grade 1 sprints, he doesn't look like a sure thing in Saturday's $60,000 Challedon Stakes at Laurel Park.
Charles Town celebrates the Christmas holiday early with a pair of $70,000 stakes for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs on Saturday night's program.
Red Velvet Cake and Take the Plunge, two of the sharpest 2-year-olds on the grounds, meet for the first time in the St. Nick Stakes. Absolute Rocks and Clay's Rocket, an entry owned by Michael Gill and trained by John Robb, are a formidable one-two punch in the Snow White Stakes, for fillies.
ALBANY, Calif. - There's no disputing that Smoke Till Dawn is a highly useful sprinter. But a track record holder?
A 4-year-old gelding by Smokester, Smoke Till Dawn broke the Golden Gate Fields record for six furlongs in winning his fourth straight race Wednesday in a $16,000 claimer, beating Court Shenanigans by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:07.45. The old mark of 1:07.55 was set by El Dorado Shooter in the Montclair Handicap on Jan. 20, 2001.
PHOENIX - Last year a romping victory in the Arizona Juvenile at Turf Paradise shoved Siberland into the spotlight, making him a legitimate traveler on the Derby trail until he was knocked out by injury.
It's too soon to say whether there's a potential Derby horse this year at Turf Paradise, but Saturday's $50,000 Arizona Juvenile renewal will answer one question: Who's the best 2-year-old male on the circuit?
A full field of 12 runs in the 6 1/2-furlong event for juvenile males.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cajun Beat, the upset winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in October, will make his next start in the $100,000 Mr. Prospector Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 3, trainer Stephen Margolis said on Wednesday.
A leading candidate for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding sprinter, Cajun Beat had been considered a candidate for the $250,000 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.