East Boston, Mass. - It won't be Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral, but there's match-race fever in New England again as the two winningest horses in North America - Call Me Mr. Vain and Diplomatical - face off in a one-on-one contest Oct. 22 at Suffolk Downs.
Each horse is a veteran claimer who has racked up 10 wins this year. The connections of both have agreed to a six-furlong race with a likely $10,000 purse that will be split 80-20.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - In last Sunday's allowance feature, Red Dragon, an 8-year-old gelding, scored his ninth win in 19 starts at Fort Erie, all of them since he left western Canada in 2000 as a winner of two races.
Looking for a runner that might go long, trainer Daryl Ezra claimed Red Dragon for his brother, Maury, for $5,000 in his Eastern debut. Red Dragon, a son of Parlay Me, has won eight races for the Ezras, most of them at low claiming levels.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Danny Vella was anticipating a lucrative yearling sales stakes day here Sept. 1, with Winning Chance an odds-on choice for the Algoma and Phantom Light looking like the horse to beat in the Elgin.
Instead, the day turned out to be a major disappointment for Vella and Stronach Stable. Winning Light finished a distant second and Phantom Light was a late scratch after coming up with an infection that has sidelined him for the season.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - What a difference a year makes.
At this time last season, Shelby Madison was running for a tag, albeit a pricey one. She won a single race in 2002 and it appeared her future was going to be as a high-priced claimer.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Two days after Funny Cide's connections said they were leaning toward running in the $100,000 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct on Oct. 29, the gelding's trainer, Barclay Tagg, said Funny Cide would run in the $250,0000 Empire Classic Handicap at Belmont Park on Oct. 18.
"The owners have expressed a strong desire to run in the Empire Classic," Tagg said at his Belmont office Wednesday morning. "The horse is doing very well and that's what we'll do."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Arnold Schwarzenegger's win in Tuesday's California gubernatorial recall election could be a boost for the state's racing industry, according to two top racing officials.
Schwarzenegger replaces Gray Davis, who was defeated by a large margin in the recall, and won comfortably over Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who had been criticized in the run-up to the election for accepting millions of dollars in campaign donations from American Indian tribes that operate casinos.
MIAMI - French Village and Sir Oscar will be Mrs. Inside and Mr. Outside when they attempt to sweep their respective divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes on Saturday's $1.5 million Festival of the Sun program at Calder.
French Village was assigned post 1 for the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes, while Sir Oscar drew the outside, post 9, for the $400,000 In Reality Stakes. Post positions were drawn Wednesday for Calder's cornerstone event, the Festival of the Sun, a 13-race program that includes six other stakes, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Calder Derby.
While the Aqueduct meet will open as scheduled on Oct. 29, patrons will not be able to roam the plant as freely as usual.
Because of incomplete construction of a casino at Aqueduct, several parts of the plant will be off limits. The entire second floor grandstand as well as the backyard area will be closed.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine is bracing for an expected influx of European runners for the Oct. 19 Canadian International and E.P. Taylor Stakes.
And the first shipper to make the scene is Walzerkoenigin, a 4-year-old who will bring strong credentials into the Grade 1, $750,000 E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
Bred in Kentucky and purchased for $275,000 at the Keeneland July 2000 yearling sale, Walzerkoenigin has been based in Germany for Gestut Schlenderhan, the farm owned by Baroness Karin Von Ullman.
MIAMI - Sir Bear, who retired earlier this year at 10 with earnings of more than $2.5 million, will return to the track one last time as the feature attraction during the annual Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation ceremony on Saturday's Festival of the Sun program at Calder.
Sir Bear was a three-time Grade 1 winner and one of the most popular horses to race in south Florida over the past decade. He currently resides on a farm in nearby Davie, Fla., located just a few furlongs from the home of his owner-breeders, Barbara and Al Smollin.