EDMONTON, Alberta - With the 2003 Thoroughbred season in Alberta winding down, trainer Ron K. "Red" Smith will once again end the season as the leading trainer on the circuit.
That should come as no surprise, considering he has been at or near the top of the leader board for nearly two decades.
What is different this year is the way Smith has gone about it.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Though tempted by the absence of Wild Spirit to run Summer Colony in Sunday's Grade 1 Overbrook Spinster at Keeneland, trainer Mark Hennig said Wednesday that his 5-year-old mare will stay in New York for Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park.
Hennig said the speed-favoring nature of the Keeneland track would put Summer Colony at a disadvantage against the likes of the front-running Take Charge Lady, who won last year's Spinster.
ELMONT, N.Y. - He's Crafty, who won back-to-back starts at Saratoga during the summer, takes on more seasoned horses as he shoots for his first win over Belmont Park's turf course in Friday's $58,000 feature.
The 1 1/8-mile classified allowance race drew eight older males, including graded stakes winners Pisces and Dawn of the Condor, whose better days may be behind them.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Reba's Gold was in the best form of his 2002 campaign in late September and early October, winning the Pomona Handicap at Fairplex Park and returning the following weekend to run third in the Grade 2 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita.
This year, owner Alex Trebek and trainer Dan Hendricks considered the same plan, but scratched out of last Sunday's Pomona Handicap in favor of Saturday's $500,000 Goodwood.
Suffolk Downs will not race during the winter of 2004 after requesting from the Massachusetts Racing Commission 150 racing days for next year for a meet running May 1 to Nov. 27.
The official request means New England horsemen will be forced to relocate for six months when the current Suffolk meet ends Oct. 27.
The move comes a year after Rockingham Park in New Hampshire switched from Thoroughbred to harness racing and ended a 12-year circuit arrangement with Suffolk that had traditionally seen Suffolk running in the winter, spring, and autumn.
The top three choices for Saturday's Grade 3, $400,000-added Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park drew the outside posts in a field of 11.
Grand Hombre, purchased by Darley off his strong five-length win in the Pennsylvania Derby, was installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite and drew post 11. Undefeated in four career starts, Grand Hombre will have Edgar Prado in the saddle.
MIAMI - Stroll, who has gradually ascended to the top of the 3-year-old turf division this summer, will put his four-race winning streak on the line in the $200,000 Calder Derby on Oct. 11. The Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Calder Derby is one of seven stakes that make up the undercard on the $1.5 million Festival of the Sun program.
Stroll's current streak includes easy victories in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Jamaica handicaps. A homebred son of Pulpit, Stroll is trained by Bill Mott for Claiborne Farm.
WINNIPEG, Man. - The Assiniboia Downs live race meeting came to a close last Sunday with average daily wagering on live races up slightly from 2002.
An average daily total handle of $136,753 was recorded on 73 live race days in 2003, compared with an average of $135,657 bet on 74 live race days in 2002.
Live ontrack handle was also up in 2003, with an average of $89,689 wagered compared with $84,631 in 2002.
STICKNEY, Ill. - She has never been a star racehorse, nor will she ever be. And Go for Puddin won't go with any great fanfare to the breeding shed for a career as a broodmare. But in an age in which longevity is in short supply, Go for Puddin is one rare mare that has maintained her form in the face of advancing age.