ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The remarkable comeback of Chris's Bad Boy will continue Saturday at Woodbine in the $137,375 Kennedy Road Stakes.
Chris's Bad Boy, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Vito Armata, captured the 2000 Prelude Stakes at Louisiana Downs. He subsequently finished fifth in the Grade 1 Super Derby, but his career went into the dumper the next year, and he ended up running for just $10,000 at Fort Erie in the fall of 2001.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Tom Won and Mythical Road, who finished a nose apart in second and third behind divisional leader Houston Shuffle in the six-furlong Bill Wineberg Stakes on Nov. 15, rank as logical contenders in field of 10 2-year-olds in Saturday's $10,000 Columbia River Stakes at Portland Meadows.
Trainer Steve Asmussen has found the key to Grand Steal, and that could be bad news for the competition Saturday night in the $35,000 Conroe at Sam Houston Race Park.
A six-furlong race for 3-year-olds, the Conroe drew a deeper field than some stakes three times its value. Top contenders include Book Note, who earned his second 100 Beyer Speed Figure last out when he won an allowance by 9 3/4 lengths, and Leo's Last Hurrahy, a multiple stakes winner of $353,118.
If Britt's Jules repeats the 96 Beyer Figure he earned winning an allowance in his most recent start, then Saturday night's $40,000 Delta Beau at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., will be a race for second. If he does not, the five-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds will be flung wide open, with at least four others in the seven-horse field capable of winning.
Brimmerton was 2-5 to win the Grade 1 Retama Park Futurity for Quarter Horses back in June, but he was left at the starting gate and ended up sixth in one of the biggest upsets of the meet. Fast forward five months, and Brimmerton will get a second chance to win his first stakes in Saturday night's $1,088,856 Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park.
The 400-yard race for 2-year-old Quarter Horses is the richest stakes in the history of Texas.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Exceptional performances by Dancewithavixen and Roscoe Pito will make it hard for voters to choose a horse of the year in British Columbia this season.
Under normal circumstances, Roscoe Pito would have a lock on the title. Usually, a horse who wins both the British Columbia Derby and then beats older horses in the Premier's is given the award. But it's hard to get past the remarkable record that Dancewithavixen compiled in 2003.
PORTLAND, Ore. - With Houston Shuffle away, will it be Tom Won's turn to play in Saturday's six furlong Columbia River Stakes for 2-year-olds?
Houston Shuffle, the undisputed local divisional leader with three wins in as many starts, is sitting out the Columbia River in order to come into the Dec. 13 Oregon Futurity as a fresh horse.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Improving the average field size, which has been down about 1 percent this year, will be one of the major goals of the Woodbine Entertainment Group in 2004.
But it certainly hasn't been a problem during the last few days of this meeting, with the entry box being filled by horsemen seeking a last kick at the can.
Racing secretary Steve Lym said more than 200 horses had been entered for Friday, including those in races which were not carded. A total of 138 horses were on the overnight for the 11-race program.
Philadelphia Park-based trainer John Servis is resisting the temptation to get overly excited or look too far ahead with his highly promising 2-year-old Smarty Jones.
Last Saturday, in just his second career start, Smarty Jones won the seven-furlong Pennsylvania Nursery by 15 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 103. The filly Forest Music (105) and Judiths Wild Rush (105) are the only 2-year-olds to run faster this year.