INGLEWOOD, Calif. - When Dress to Thrill won the Matriarch Stakes last year, many observers expected an outstanding season from her as a 4-year-old in 2003. They are still waiting.
In four starts this year, Dress to Thrill has one win, the Grade 3 All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes at Colonial Downs in July. Since then, she has finished sixth in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park in August and fourth in the Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park in September.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A trio of promising European imports takes on a group of late-developing locals, including budding rivals Rush Into Heaven and Lucky Pulpit, in Saturday's $100,000 Generous Stakes. The large field in the Grade 3 Generous presents a navigational challenge for the jockeys on the dozen 2-year-olds and those who will bet on them.
At one mile on turf, the Generous starts close to the hairpin first turn, so horses with outside boxes will have to work out a trip to be competitive. Those with inside draws, by contrast, should be able to save valuable ground.
Santa Anita has raised the purses of five Grade 1 stakes, cut the purses of two historic races by $100,000 each, and dropped three stakes from the schedule of the upcoming Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which runs from Dec. 26 to April 18.
The purses of the Malibu Stakes, La Brea Stakes, Santa Monica Handicap, Las Virgenes Stakes, and Santa Maria Handicap have been raised from $200,000 to $250,000 to remain in compliance with minimum purses for Grade 1 stakes set by the American Graded Stakes committee.
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.