ETOBICOKE, Ontario - When trainer Graham Motion comes to Woodbine, he usually makes some waves.
Motion won the Grade 3 Royal North Handicap here in 2000 and 2001 with Confessional and also captured the 2001 Seagram Cup Stakes with Trajectory, like Confessional a ship-in from Delaware. He will saddle Commendation in one of Sunday's supporting features on Atto Mile Day, the $285,500 Summer Stakes, a one-mile turf event for 2-year-olds.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sunday's $279,250 Canadian Handicap, a Grade 2 race for fillies and mares over 1 1/8 miles on turf, has attracted an interesting lineup, including American invaders Volga and Lady of the Future, and the English filly Hold to Ransom.
But they will have to get past Diadella, a Kentucky-bred 6-year-old who has done the majority of her racing here at Woodbine for Stronach Stable and trainer Malcolm Pierce.
Diadella won the 2001 edition of the Canadian and was second, beaten a nose last year by the Christophe Clement-trained shipper Calista.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Since the inaugural Sales Stakes for 3-year-olds were exclusively for Alberta-breds, the results should be useful indicators for the Alberta Oaks and the Beaufort Stakes on Fall Classic Day next Saturday.
That is especially the case for the Oaks, where filly Sales Stakes winner A Shaky Start is expected to dominate.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Two of the premier events on the Hastings schedule will be run Sunday. Both the Jack Diamond Futurity for males and Sadie Diamond Futurity for fillies drew full fields, but they look completely different from a handicapping perspective.
Silent Bet looks like a solid favorite in the Sadie Diamond Futurity, and the Jack Diamond Futurity is wide open. Both races are worth an estimated $100,000 and will be run over 6 1/2 furlongs.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Firth of Lorne, a group stakes-placed Irish-bred filly, tops the field for Sunday's Bay Meadows feature, a $50,000 optional claiming race at one mile on turf.
A 4-year-old filly, Firth of Lorne finished third in a Group 3 stakes race and second in a Group 1 race as a 3-year-old.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Fancy Bru will probably never escape the shadow of his illustrious half-brother Fancy As, but on Sunday he will be heavily favored to win the $36,000 J.W. Sifton Stakes for Manitoba-bred 3-year-olds.
Fancy Bru, a gelding by Buie, drops in class to face eight rivals going 1 1/8 miles after finishing second to top 3-year-old Northern Affair in the open Harry Jeffrey Stakes here Aug. 24.
That race was also 1 1/8 miles, and Fancy Bru already manhandled most of Sunday's rivals in the one-mile Manitoba Stakes earlier this year.
AUBURN, Wash. - Only two starts back, Ruby Dawn was hoping to score a maiden victory at the $6,250 level. Today, she is preparing for the $40,000 John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes for Washington-bred 3-year-old fillies at a mile, one of eight stakes on the inaugural Washington Cup Day card at Emerald Downs on Sept. 21.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Proud Son and Lord Samari are the only stakes winners in the Jack Diamond Futurity, which goes as the ninth race Sunday, but don't be surprised if another horse jumps up and wins the race. There's plenty of upside to many of the lightly raced 2-year-olds in the race and just about anything is possible when 10 juveniles run on the tight-turned Hastings oval.
FLORENCE, Ky. - Sure, it's a little over the top. Labeling the Kentucky Cup as a "Day of Champions" involves quite a bit of hyperbole, but where there's smoke, there is a least some semblance of fire.
Indeed, now that it has reached a milestone - this is the 10th year for the Kentucky Cup - it can be fairly said that the event has drawn a fair share of champions and top-class horses. And happily for Turfway Park, another really good racehorse has come down the pike: Congaree will be here Saturday to run in the richest of the five Kentucky Cup races, the $350,000 Classic.
