VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Owner-trainer Tom Longstaff hasn't had much to be disappointed about this year. He won seven stakes with Dancewithavixen and when the Hastings meet ends, he will be the leading owner in money won.
Currently, Longstaff sits on top of the list with $441,212 in the bank, and he is hoping to add to that total when he sends out Louie Downtown in an allowance race for 2-year-olds Sunday.
MIAMI - Trainer Bobby Frankel's decision to run Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Medaglia d'Oro in the $500,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28 has led trainer Marty Wolfson to reconsider the itinerary for his locally based handicap star Aeneas.
The connections of Distinctive Code will be hoping for a better start Sunday at Louisiana Downs than the filly had last time at Keeneland.
Distinctive Code stumbled at the start of the Grade 3 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes, a six-furlong race, and as a front-runner gave up precious ground to her rivals. As a result, she ended up racing behind the leaders throughout and finished eighth.
Apparently there are a lot of female sprinters in the Mid-South region. Remington Park, like Louisiana Downs, is running a seven-furlong stakes for fillies and mares on Sunday. The race at Remington is the $35,000 Lady's Secret, and among the 13 entered is Princess Jen, who won both the Majorette and the Lady's Secret last year, when the Majorette was run Oct. 5 and the Lady's Secret Nov. 17.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Scioto Bootski, an upset winner over males in the Best of Ohio Sprint Championship two starts ago, heads a full field of 14 Ohio-bred fillies and mares in the $40,000 Scarlet and Gray Handicap.
In the Best of Ohio Sprint, Scioto Bootski dueled outside of heavily favored Ben's Reflection throughout. She wore that rival down late to score a head victory at 32-1 in the six-furlong event. She returned on Oct. 19 and once again dueled throughout, but this time the 5-year-old mare dropped a nose decision in a conditioned allowance event.
ANDERSON, Ind. - The progeny of registered Indiana stallions will compete in a pair of $35,000, 1 1/16-mile stakes for statebreds.
Gorgeous N Greedy will make her stakes debut in a field of nine contesting the Richmond Stakes for fillies and mares. She faces defending champion Maggie's Dream and rates a slight edge in an evenly matched field.
Trained by Gary Patrick, Gorgeous N Greedy has registered both of her wins this year at a mile or over and comes off a third against one-other-than allowance company. Rafael Mojica Jr. has been named to ride from post 7.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - No matter what happens in the final three weeks of the meeting, 2003 will have been a career year for trainer Scott Fairlie.
Heading into Saturday's card, Fairlie was second in the Woodbine standings with 56 victories, nine behind leader Bob Tiller.
Fairlie has also won 17 races at Fort Erie, where he maintains a division of six to eight horses. His combined total makes him Canada's leading trainer in races won, and his runners have collected almost $2.4 million. Both figures represent career bests.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - With the track's season coming to an end on Tuesday, there is still a little suspense as to will finish atop most of Fort Erie's statistical standings.
Not so with the jockey race. Martin Ramirez has undoubtedly captured the jockeys' crown. With 120 victories heading into Saturday, he was 36 ahead of the runner-up, Francine Villeneuve.
Storming on Merit, a winner of 8 of her 9 starts, all two-furlong dashes, is the Fort's winningest runner. Next in line is Ashagio, who has seven wins. Both runners may get a start in before the meet is over.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - By far, the filly with the longest resume in the $125,000 New York Stallion Series Fifth Avenue Stakes on Sunday is So Sweet a Cat, who has run five times and has three second-place finishes in three restricted stakes at Finger Lakes.