INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Victory U. S. A. is in. Everyone else may as well be out.
Bob Baffert signaled thumbs up Wednesday after Victory U. S. A. worked a crisp five furlongs in company at Santa Anita, and the 2-year-old filly will be odds-on to win the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes on Sunday at Hollywood Park.
The seven-furlong Moccasin is Victory U. S. A.'s first start since her third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and few are eager to face her.
ANDERSON, Ind. - Down by the Sea and Victory Punch are rematched in a field of 12 Indiana-bred 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs in Friday's $70,000-added Miss Indiana Stakes.
Down by the Sea and Victory Punch were nearly inseparable in their first meeting here on Oct. 26. They hooked up at the start and went head and head throughout until Down by the Sea won the nonwinners-of-two allowance by a nose.
As a closer, Prized Amberpro is dependent on pace, and it appears that there is enough speed to fuel her late run in Friday night's $75,000 Magnolia at Delta Downs. Prized Amberpro will face seven others in the seven-furlong race for fillies and mares bred in Louisiana.
"I hope they go out there and kill each other off," said her trainer, John Gelner.
Gelner thought that would be the case in Prized Amberpro's last race, when she finished a fast-closing third to Leslie's Love in the $50,000 Victoria at Louisiana Downs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Bob Tiller has had plenty of good years since he began training horses in 1973, but until this year none was better than 2001.
Tiller was the leading trainer in races won here, with 62, and in money won, with $3,481,653. He won 12 stakes, and among his stakes winners were Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male Win City and champion 2-year-old male Rare Friends. He also collected his first Sovereign Award as outstanding trainer.
But heading into the final three weeks of this meeting, Tiller already has rewritten his personal record book.
PORTLAND, Ore. - The drama came early in Saturday's $19,526 Janet Wineberg Stakes for Oregon-bred juvenile fillies, as the favored Americas Pride broke slowly and trailed the field of six up the backstretch. Those who backed Americas Pride down to 1-2 must have had their hearts in their mouths, but leading rider Juan Gutierrez professed to be unconcerned.
"I wasn't worried," he said. "I knew what kind of horse I was on. She was the class of this field."
FORT ERIE, Ontario - After three successive years of healthy gains, the handle at Fort Erie Race Track took a tumble in 2003.
Originally scheduled for 117 days, the meet lost four days through weather-related cancelations. Also, the card on Sept. 30 was canceled after the fourth race.
All-sources wagering dropped 11.7 percent, to $87,483,748 from last year's $99,049,657. The daily average was $775,192, compared to $853,856 last year.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - No one hit the Pick Six on Tuesday, the opening-day of Hollywood Park's fall meeting, so there is a carryover of $90,654.45 for the next day of racing here, Thursday. Wednesday is a dark day.
The Pick Six on Thursday encompasses races three through eight. Most of the fields are small, and several have short-priced favorites who look difficult to oppose.
Here is a brief review of those Thursday races:
MIAMI - A battle of unbeatens is always a special event, whether the arena is a football field, basketball court, boxing ring - or the racetrack. On Saturday at Calder, the much-anticipated meeting between undefeated 2-year-olds Sir Oscar and Wynn Dot Comma will finally take place.
Sir Oscar and Wynn Dot Comma will put their unblemished records on the line in the $150,000 Jack Price Stakes. The seven-furlong dash is not the richest of the six stakes on the $1 million Florida Million Day program, but it is certainly the most intriguing.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It hasn't been for lack of trying that Beauty on Duty hasn't run since winning her maiden by 9 1/4 lengths on Aug. 1 at Saratoga.
"Her nickname around the barn is MTO," said trainer James Bond, meaning that he has entered Beauty on Duty in several turf races as a main-track-only runner. "We had her in a bunch of spots, but we just couldn't get her in."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When Salty Farma competes in Thursday's featured ninth race at Churchill Downs, no changes of equipment will be noted. Salty Farma, having worn blinkers in her last 14 races, will wear blinkers again in the one-mile turf race.
Those who take a closer look will notice something different, however. She will be equipped with a different set of blinkers, with a larger cup over her right eye.
