CHICAGO - Eusebio Razo Jr. has had the best Arlington meet of his career this season. But to put an exclamation point after it, he has to leave.
Instead of riding closing day at Arlington, Razo will spend Saturday at Belmont, where he rides Ajedrez in the Grade 1, $500,000 Vosburgh Handicap.
MIAMI - Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey has committed to ride at Calder for the rich Festival of the Sun program on Oct. 11.
Bailey's agent, Ron Anderson, said Bailey will ride Chatter Chatter in the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes. Chatter Chatter finished second behind the undefeated French Village in the seven-furlong Susan's Girl Stakes, then returned last Friday to dominate a field of maiden fillies by 23 lengths. Chatter Chatter's final time of 1:40.20 for one mile earned her a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Multiple stakes winner Stage Classic will get some class relief Thursday at Woodbine when he competes in the featured sixth race, a $100,000 optional claimer scheduled for the grass.
Stage Classic, a 5-year-old Sky Classic gelding, captured the Grade 2 Manitoba Derby at 3, before trainer Dave Cotey began to campaign him almost strictly on the grass. He won the Grade 2 Sky Classic Handicap in September 2001 and won his third stakes last fall in the 1 1/4-mile Chief Bearhart Stakes here over yielding ground.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There has been a change of plans for Wando, but if all goes well his campaign will still wind up with a Breeders' Cup appearance at Santa Anita Oct. 25.
Wando's road to the Breeders' Cup is about to take a rather unlikely turn with an appearance in the Grade 3, $400,000 Indiana Derby, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race at Hoosier Park on Oct. 4, next on his agenda.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Ron McAnally made official on Monday what he had hinted at over the weekend, saying that Candy Ride, the Pacific Classic winner, would not race again this year and would miss the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - The morning after his win in Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby, Ten Most Wanted looked like he had never even run in the race. He was alert and energetic, seemingly ready to tackle his next assignment, the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.
"He walked me this morning," said Wally Dollase, who co-owns and trains Ten Most Wanted. "He came out of the race really good. That's one thing about him, he's got tremendous constitution. He ate up last night and these are signs that the race didn't faze him that much."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Neil Howard didn't really need the reassurance, but he had to ask the question. Back at his barn, following Mineshaft's five-furlong workout Monday morning at Belmont Park, Howard asked exercise rider Annie Finney, "Were you happy?"
"Ecstatic," Finney said, breaking into an ear-to-ear grin.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It will soon be time for trainer Christophe Clement to bid farewell to some of his talented turf mares, who will most likely be headed to the breeding shed at year's end. He hopes Where We Left Off will be a well-named replacement for the likes of Voodoo Dancer and Dress to Thrill.
Where We Left Off will seek her third consecutive victory Wednesday at Belmont Park in the $65,000 Starine Stakes for 3-year-old fillies who have never won a stakes race. Ten fillies were entered for the one-mile turf race, while Fast Cookie was entered for the main track only.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It's been in the back of Wayne Catalano's head for several months that Prairie Slam might be a nice horse - a really nice horse. How Prairie Slam runs Wednesday at Arlington will go a long way toward determining if Catalano is right.
Prairie Slam was entered in Wednesday's eighth race, one of two second-level allowances on a surprisingly strong card. The nine-race program kicks off Arlington's closing week, as Chicago racing shifts to Hawthorne on Sunday.
POMONA, Calif. - Can a maiden be a standout in a $50,000 stakes race? The question comes up Wednesday at Fairplex Park, where 2-year-old filly Poet's Studio is expected to score her first career win in the Black Swan Stakes.
A field of 12 entered the 1 1/16-mile Black Swan, race 11 on a marathon 13-race card. That Poet's Studio is still a maiden after three starts is less significant than that she is the only starter who has raced a route of ground. And she did it well. Poet's Studio finished second in a one-mile race Sept. 4 at Del Mar.
