LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At a mile on the main track, a matchup among stakes winners Champali, Hero's Tribute, and Twilight Road would be interesting indeed.
But at a mile on the turf, it's not only interesting, it's confusing. The allowance conditions of the Friday feature at Churchill Downs call for horses that have not won a race "other than" on grass this year, luring a handful of horses who have excelled on dirt but are veritable unknowns on grass.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Campo Lago and He Rules, who are both nominated to Saturday's Display Stakes, will run instead in Friday's Woodbine headliner, a 1 1/16-mile allowance for 2-year-olds.
Campo Lago, a son of Grade 1-winning turf specialist Military, has run well in all three of his main-track starts. After flopping on the grass in his debut, he finished third behind Display contender Smoocher in a seven-furlong maiden special Aug. 31.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Icicle Angel, fresh from a score in the Diane Kem Stakes here on Oct. 25, will take on six challengers in Friday's six-furlong allowance feature.
Icicle Angel, a 6-year-old daughter of La Saboteur from the barn of trainer Richard Occhiuto, came from just off the pace to score a neck decision over Run Free in the Diane Kem, getting six furlongs in 1:13.11. It was the second stakes win and the ninth career victory for Icicle Angel, who boasts $122,122 in earnings. Karen Knapp will again have the mount at 123 pounds.
MIAMI - Among the highlights of Saturday's Florida Million program at Calder Race Course are Best of the Rest's title defense in the Carl G. Rose Classic, the much-anticipated meeting of undefeated 2-year-olds Sir Oscar and Wynn Dot Comma in the Jack Price Juvenile, and jockey Jerry Bailey's quest to break two riding records.
The Maryland Racing Commission voted Tuesday not to intervene in the Maryland Jockey Club's decision to close Pimlico stables this winter. The 6-2 vote set off angry responses from horsemen aimed primarily at Tom McDonough, the commission chairman.
McDonough led the commission's vote not to involve itself in the decision about Pimlico and not to hear testimony from dozens of horsemen who attended the meeting at Laurel Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For a horse based year-round in Southern California, Sharbayan sure has followed a peculiar schedule this year. The 5-year-old horse has shipped off to races at Midwest tracks on four separate occasions without running once on his home circuit.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Frank Laboccetta Jr. has the win photo of virtually every one of his horses tacked onto his office wall. Laboccetta may soon need a bigger office.
Laboccetta, a former jockey and the son of a trainer, has been unconscious through the first 11 days of the Aqueduct fall meet, winning with 8 of his first 12 starters with one second-place finish. The eight wins tie him for second in the trainer standings with Todd Pletcher, one behind leading trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.
STICKNEY, Ill. - It is quite possible that Ft. Mann is a filly who prefers to be outside looking in, and after drawing post 1 or 2 in her last four starts, Ft. Mann may prefer the view in Hawthorne's fourth-race feature.
This time Ft. Mann has post 6 in a seven-horse field, a perfect spot for her pace-pressing style. Better yet, owner Frank Calabrese and trainer Wayne Catalano have entered Ft. Mann in a fourth-level allowance race after claiming her for $35,000 here Oct. 19. These people don't hesitate to drop after a claim, making Ft. Mann's class boost a positive sign.
ALBANY, Calif. - Spy Me Not, claimed for $32,000 on Oct. 24 at Santa Anita by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, is the one to beat from the rail in Friday's feature at Golden Gate Fields, a six-furlong allowance race. A 6-year-old gelding, Spy Me Not has shown speed in the past but seems more comfortable as a stalker.
He has plenty of speed to run at in this 12-horse field.
His primary competition could come from Natural Style, who made up nearly five lengths in the stretch against undefeated Constant Thunder in his last race.