SAN MATEO, Calif. - For jockey Frank Alvarado, a working vacation this summer worked wonders.
Alvarado has returned to riding full-time at Bay Meadows after spending the summer at Hollywood Park and Del Mar.
"You have to ride horses at 100 percent," said Alvarado, a 34-year-old native of Panama. "When I left here in June, my head was not 100 percent right. Now, I'm ready to ride seven days a week."
Alvarado has more than 2,000 victories in a career that began in 1984.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mineshaft was vanned from Churchill Downs to Lane's End Farm on Monday morning, leaving a massive void in trainer Neil Howard's Churchill barn. No one can realistically compensate for the loss of a superstar from a stable, yet Howard will try, eagerly awaiting his next golden opportunity.
MIAMI - Thirteen 2-year-olds have entered the finales of the Florida Stallion Stakes with an opportunity to sweep their division since the twin three-race series began at Calder Race Course in 1982. But when French Village and Sir Oscar go postward Saturday for the $400,000 In Reality Stakes and the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes, it will be the first time that two horses have attempted to complete a sweep on the same day.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It now appears trainer Bobby Frankel will take two shots at Azeri in the Breeders' Cup Distaff later this month at Santa Anita.
Frankel on Tuesday gave every indication that Wild Spirit, the Chilean-bred mare who is 3 for 4 in this country, will be supplemented by her owner, Oussama Abou-Ghazale, to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff at a cost of $400,000. Wild Spirit, who won the Grade 1 Ruffian in her last start, would join Sightseek, a four-time Grade 1 winner, as Frankel's representatives in the Distaff.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If Funny Cide returns to the races in the Discovery Handicap later this month at Aqueduct, one of his chief rivals could be Qais, an undefeated 3-year-old owned by Godolphin Racing.
Qais's participation in the Oct. 29 Discovery will depend on how he runs Thursday in the $65,000 Coronado's Quest, a one-mile overnight stakes race on Belmont Park's nine-race card.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tradition Rocks will be seeking redemption for his owner, trainer, and jockey - not to mention bettors - on Thursday at Santa Anita, where he will start favored in a mile turf allowance that goes as the seventh race.
It was four days ago, Sunday, when Marty Wygod-owned Yankee Gentleman finished a dull fourth as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Handicap. Thirty minutes later, Julio Canani-trained Special Ring finished a dull fourth under jockey David Flores as the 7-10 favorite in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - No one likes to go to a party and find four others with the same style. That is exactly what happened to Champali when he raced in last month's Kentucky Cup Sprint at Turfway Park.
Matched against a foursome of horses with similar front-running tendencies, he was unable to clear them and wound up hung five wide from an outside post. Despite the ground lost, he turned in a competitive effort in a fast race, finishing third behind Cajun Beat and Clock Stopper.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - When discussing W.T. Young's Overbrook Farm, two words often become part of the conversation: Storm Cat. The legendary farm is home to the nation's premier sire. Additionally, the farm is known for its development of such standout homebred runners as Boston Harbor, Flanders, and Surfside.
On Thursday, it may be a gelding that puts the farm back in the headlines. Clock Stopper, a gelded son of Gilded Time, will carry the farm's colors - alongside homebred colt Boston Park - in $100,000 Perryville Stakes at Keeneland.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Don't cross out Yankee Gentleman quite yet. Notwithstanding the horse's fourth-place finish Sunday in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Handicap, trainer John Shirreffs said Tuesday that Yankee Gentleman will train toward the Breeders' Cup Sprint. "He pulled up good, and if we can get some support for him, we're going," Shirreffs said.
Yankee Gentleman finished fourth as the 6-5 favorite in the Ancient Title, a race he needed to win to be assured a Breeders' Cup berth; Yankee Gentleman has never finished in the money in a graded stakes.
