OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher led trainers in New York stakes wins last year with 21, and figures to win with his first New York stakes starter of 2004, , in Sunday's Ruthless at Aqueduct.
Highgate Park is one of five 3-year-old fillies entered in a weak edition of the Ruthless.
Highgate Park, a daughter of A.P. Indy, lost her first three starts, twice as the favorite. The winners of two of those races, Whoopi Cat and Smokey Glacken, later won stakes.
FLORENCE, Ky. - Because trainers are accustomed to waking in the early hours of the morning, they typically are not the type to stay up to midnight to ring in the New Year.
So trainer Greg Foley provided his own New Year's Eve fireworks Wednesday afternoon, winning three races at Turfway. The wins capped a banner year for Foley and vaulted him into a three-way tie with Bernie Flint and Dale Romans for leading trainer on the final day of Turfway's holiday meet.
The three-win day was not the first for Foley, he said, but the day was no less special.
ALBANY, Calif. - Gold Ruckus ($7.20), the last horse to run under the ownership of John Franks, scored a one-length victory over Truly a Judge in the $81,000 Lafayette Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday.
"It's a fitting way for Mr. Franks to go out as a winner," winning trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said of the four-time Eclipse Award winner as leading owner who died Thursday. "From now on, his horses will run as the John Franks Estate."
ARCADIA, Calif. - A healthy pick six pool on Thursday was not hit, so there is a large carryover of $156,198 to Friday's card. The eight-race card begins at 1 pm Pacific time. The pick six is on races three through eight.
Here is a quick overview of the pick six races:
Third - Trainer Bob Hess Jr. has two of the leading contenders in this bottom-level claimer in Clever Miss Caper and Urgent Start. Urgent Start has won her last two starts, and has the better win percentage, so she gets a slight nod.
MIAMI - If opening day is any indication, the 2004 Gulfstream Park meeting should be something special.
Led by the return of Breeders' Cup Sprint champion in the six-furlong Mr. Prospector Handicap, Saturday's 11-race opening day program includes three Grade 3 stakes. There will also be a guaranteed minimum pool of $100,000 on a special pick three wager consisting of the Mr. Prospector, the Hal's Hope, and the Honey Fox handicaps. All three stakes carry a purse of $100,000.
MIAMI - Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens will have the upper hand when he sends out against eight other older handicap horses in Saturday's $100,000 Hal's Hope Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The Hal's Hope, at 1 1/16 miles, serves as a prep for the Grade 1 Donn Handicap on Feb. 7.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Every year, it seems, Jerry Bailey sets the bar higher for himself. Coming off a blockbuster year in which he not only broke the North American record for stakes wins (70) and total earnings (over $23.3 million) but also seemingly clinched a record seventh Eclipse Award for top jockey, Bailey is back at Gulfstream Park to begin yet another assault on the record books.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Trainer Jonathan Nance looms large in Saturday's $10,000 OTBA Stallion Stakes, a restricted six-furlong test for Oregon-bred 3-year-olds.
Nance will saddle three of the five horses entered, including probable favorite, Kya Jo. All three of the Nance-trained entrants are fillies.
NEW ORLEANS - It took Sister Swank some time to get out of her trainer's second string, and Steady Course needed five tries to win a maiden race, but these are the fillies to be reckoned with Saturday in the $60,000 Thelma Stakes at Fair Grounds.
They join Movant, Turn to Lass, Speedy Sonata, and Cryptos Best in a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies that lacks a single stakes winner. On established class, it is difficult to throw out any of them, but the perception is Sister Swank and Steady Course could be a cut above.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Lion Heart and Salty Romance made their debuts Oct. 24, the day before the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. Patrick Biancone, who trains both horses, thought Salty Romance had the better chance of the two that day. But it was Lion Heart who won; Salty Romance finished only third.
Neither has lost since.
Since his debut, Lion Heart has won two stakes races, including the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity. Salty Romance, compromised by a slow start in her debut, beat maidens in her second start, then went to Delta Downs and captured last month's Delta Princess.
