STICKNEY, Ill. - Horsemen with an Illinois-bred who can run at all will seriously consider Saturday's Illinois Festival of Racing, which comprises six $100,000 stakes races restricted to statebreds. Taking a flier with a longshot makes sense when the horse can compete for such a high purse.
But the trainers who might enter an outsider in the Robert F. Carey II Handicap tend to begin their stories the same way: "I know Wiggins is running, but . . . "
MIAMI - There will be six stakes worth $1 million in purses on the Florida Millions program a week from Saturday, and trainer Myra Mora has Tour of the Cat nominated to three of those events.
One is the $150,000 Jack Dudley Sprint Handicap, a race Tour of the Cat won a year ago with a game three-quarter-length victory over My Cousin Matt.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A day after La Reina won her stakes debut in impressive fashion in the Grade 3 Tempted at Aqueduct, trainer Shug McGaughey was full of praise for the 2-year-old filly.
La Reina, a daughter of A.P. Indy, will make her next start in the Grade 2 Demoiselle, a 1 1/8-mile race on Nov. 29.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A talented group of sprinters, some of which are being pointed to the Grade 3 Fall Highweight later this month, were entered in Friday's $56,000 allowance feature at Aqueduct.
The six-furlong money allowance race drew eight male runners, including several stakes horses.
A horse who figures to be well supported in the betting is Super Fuse. A year ago as a 2-year-old, Super Fuse won 4 of 5 starts, including the Huntington Stakes at Aqueduct by 3 1/4 lengths.
Wacky Patty has had a makeover for Friday night's $75,000 Chargedupsycamore, a seven-furlong race at Delta Downs that will serve as the track's prep for the $250,000 Delta Princess on Dec. 5.
The Chargedupsycamore, to be run around two turns, drew a field of five 2-year-old fillies. Others in the race are America America, Crypto's Best, Blondz Away, and Miss Cortina.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - The business outlook for the final six weeks of the 187-day Thistledown meeting, which concludes Dec. 15, looks encouraging because of several recent developments.
Purses were increased 8 percent across the board this week, raising the minimum purse to $6,600 for bottom $3,500 claimers. Thirty new trainers have recently arrived here from Fort Erie, Finger Lakes, and Great Lakes Downs, bringing in a total of 200 horses. Also, several new simulcast outlets, including New York, have started taking the Thistledown signal.
The Woodlands, in Kansas City, Kan., handled an average of $196,984 a day on its races from all sources, which represented a 103 percent increase over the corresponding meet in 2002, according to general manager Jim Gartland.
Offtrack, handle on The Woodlands races averaged $135,000 a day, a 178 percent increase over 2002.
Attendance during the 30-day mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses averaged just over 1,400 patrons a day, up 22 percent over 2002.
AB What a Runner will try to rebound from her first career defeat when she starts in the Grade 1, $269,200 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday night.
The winner of the race, a 440-yard stakes, will receive an invitation to run in the Grade 1, $500,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 13.
AB What a Runner's defeat came in her eighth career start, when she finished a head behind the fastest-qualifier, Strawberry Dash, in the first of two trials Oct. 25.
It's uncommon in racing to have husband and wife team up as trainer and jockey. It's even more rare to see both among the leaders at the same meet. But that's the case for jockey Nena Matz and her husband, trainer Zachary Armstrong, who rank second in their respective standings at Remington Park.
Matz, 37, has been on a roll since Remngton's summer mixed meet. She carried that momentum to the fall season, where she has won 55 races. Armstrong has won with 15 of 45 starters at Remington.