EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Owner Martin Schwartz changed trainers but retained his favorite jockey. All the maneuvering paid off Friday night as Bowman's Band won the Grade 2, $400,000 .
Schwartz took the horse from Michael Matz and gave it to Allen Jerkens, the "Giant Killer," who pulled off yet another upset. This time the victim was Volponi, the Breeders' Cup Classic winner.
Schwartz also convinced Ramon Dominguez to spend what turned into a very profitable evening at The Meadowlands.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - It might be debatable whether Take Charge Lady has ever truly belonged in the elite of her class. The two worst starts in her 19-race career both came in the Breeders' Cup, and although she has amassed over $2.1 million in earnings and nearly defeated the great Azeri early this year, she has been soundly defeated by other divisional standouts such as Sightseek and Wild Spirit.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It was way back in spring when owner-breeder Marty Wygod started talking about the Breeders' Cup Sprint for a 4-year-old who had not raced in months. "I love to dream," Wygod said. "Of course at the beginning everybody thought I was crazy."
Not any more. Two romping wins this summer at Del Mar positioned Yankee Gentleman as a potential division leader though he has not raced this year in a graded stakes. That changes Sunday at Santa Anita, where Yankee Gentleman runs in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Handicap, one of three stakes with Breeders' Cup ramifications.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Toby Turrell sat in a vacant Santa Anita grandstand on Friday morning, holding a stopwatch in one hand and his binoculars and a tape recorder in the other.
As horses went through their workouts, Turrell, a private clocker and tip-sheet author, watched their every move, interrupting a conversation to offer commentary that he would later use in his analysis.
Between workouts, Turrell made a prediction - Apache Wings, whom Turrell co-owns, would have a multi-length lead in early stretch of Sunday's $300,000 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland celebrated opening day of the fall meet Friday with a nostalgic theme. All kinds of attire and decorative styles from the 1930's abounded, lending a distinct feeling that the era of Seabiscuit had returned, but perhaps a more pressing issue was whether any of the racehorses in action could remotely emulate the prowess of that legendary superstar.
EDMONTON, Alberta - A Ray of Magic, Alberta's champion older mare a year ago, on Sunday will have perhaps her last opportunity to end a season-long drought here at Northlands Park.
A Ray of Magic will meet six rivals in a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares who have not won two races this year other than maiden or claiming.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Sparklin Kat and Bullseye Bill, stakes winners at 2, look to get untracked in Sunday's Hastings feature, a $35,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs. Sparklin Kat is one of four fillies in the six-horse field.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sunday's $60,000-added Courtship Stakes at Bay Meadows will serve as important guidepost for the trainers of the six 2-year-old fillies entered in the six-furlong race.
The lightly raced fillies who have run in Washington and northern and Southern California will begin the sorting-out process that will determine their future direction.
Bianconi Baby, a 10-length winner in her Sept. 14 debut at Emerald Downs, is one of the contenders, but, obviously, has questions to answer for trainer Terry Gillihan.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The injury hex has struck jockey Joe Bravo for a third straight year.
Bravo suffered a fractured vertebra in the ninth race Thursday night at The Meadowlands when his mount, Tactical de Naskra, apparently clipped heels and stumbled to the turf.
The impact of the fall knocked Bravo unconscious.
"He woke up in the hospital and had no idea what happened," said Bravo's agent, Danny Mellul.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Saarland started his 4-year-old season on a positive note back on April 11 at Aqueduct by winning an allowance race. But since then he has lost five consecutive starts. Saarland's connections will try to get him back in the winner's circle in a Sunday allowance race at Belmont Park.
Seven older males entered the 1 1/8-mile dirt race.
