ARCADIA, Calif. - The $100,000 Distance Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on turf, the longest stakes for fillies and mares on the California Cup program, produced the closest finish last year when Nicole's Pursuit caught Shalini to win by a nose.
Saturday, Shalini returns in the Distance Handicap, and the trainer who denied her a victory is back with top contender Valentine Dancer.
Both Shalini and Valentine Dancer have questions surrounding their chances.
ARCADIA, Calif. - House of Fortune and Silent Sighs have both displayed plenty of raw ability in their brief careers, but experience, and the post position draw make House of Fortune the deserved favorite in Saturday's $125,000 California Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Three stakes wins established Don'tsellmeshort as one of the leading 2-year-old Cal-bred sprinters. But the question remains - can Don'tsellmeshort run long?
A field of 10 entered the $125,000 California Cup Juvenile on Saturday, and there is no point in debating trainer Dan Hendricks on the issue of quality. Regarding Don'tsellmeshort, he said, "I think I've got the best 2-year-old in California."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Take a good look at Men's Exclusive and Native Desert when they walk onto the track for Saturday's California Cup at Santa Anita.
They have represented the California-bred program in major stakes for eight seasons, sustaining their talent over years, not just months.
In a sport that sends horses off to stud after fewer than 10 starts, Men's Exclusive and Native Desert, both 10-year-old geldings, have been as durable as their counterparts of 50 years ago.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pat Day and Shug McGaughey have been teaming to win major stakes races for more than 20 years, with the 1983 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland marking their first notable success.
"For the Bell family," Day said between races Thursday at Churchill Downs, recalling his ride on Try Something New for the Jonabell Farm of John Bell III.
Mr. Jester and Joe Six Pack are two sons of Silver Deputy who bring widely different strengths into Saturday night's $100,000 Jean Lafitte, a one-mile race for 2-year-olds at Delta Downs that serves as a prep for the track's $1 million Delta Jackpot on Dec. 5.
Mr. Jester is the only horse in the field of six proven around two turns, while the undefeated Joe Six Pack owns the race's highest Beyer Speed Figure (100). They head a field that also contains Roundabout Jones, Depop, Ante Up Pete, and Vic Mason.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Early Wednesday evening trainer Tony Mitchell delivered news his rivals hoped they wouldn't hear: Summer Mis will run in the Powerless Handicap.
Mitchell and owner Richard Otto toyed with the idea of skipping the Powerless and saving Summer Mis for the Grade 2 Top Flight later this month at Aqueduct. A hefty 127-pound weight assignment for Saturday's statebred sprint fueled the notion that Summer Mis would pass.
Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Okla., must end its meet two weeks earlier than expected because the licensing process for its new owner, Backstretch LLC, cannot be completed before the meet's scheduled closing, Nov. 23.
The track will run five trial races on both Saturday and Sunday, but the races will be exhibitions, with no parimutuel wagering. There will also be no simulcast wagering at Blue Ribbon.
MIAMI - Trainer Kathleen O'Connell has been pointing Ivanavinalot for a turf campaign since the Grade 2 winner returned to training after an early-summer vacation. And Saturday's $35,000-added Razzle Dazzle Stakes appeared to be the perfect spot to give Ivanavinalot her first test over the new surface.