ELMONT, N.Y. - The odds have been in the double digits when Whitmore's Conn won his last two starts, the Grade 2 Bowling Green and Grade 1 Sword Dancer.
The odds don't figure to be as good on Saturday when Whitmore's Conn, a New York-bred, shoots for his third consecutive graded win in the $500,000 Man o' War at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Funny Cide took a big step toward a normal training routine on Thursday when he jogged once around Belmont Park's main track.
Funny Cide hasn't run since finishing third in the Haskell at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3. After the Haskell, Funny Cide had a fever. The results of a series of blood tests done on the gelding during the Saratoga meet weren't to trainer Barclay Tagg's satisfaction. Funny Cide was entered in the Travers on Aug. 23, but the day before the race he was scratched because mucus was detected in his trachea, and he hasn't trained since.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Perhaps the $300,000 Del Mar Derby on Saturday will establish a top 3-year-old turf male in California.
Throughout the year, there has been no dominant colt or gelding in that division. Devious Boy, Just Wonder, Private Chef, Singletary, Steelaninch, and Sweet Return have all won turf stakes since the first of April.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The $75,000 Pirate's Bounty Handicap at Del Mar on Saturday may only be a restricted sprint, but the race could have implications for two major stakes at Santa Anita in October - the Ancient Title Handicap and the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Avanzado, the defending champion and the winner of the Palos Verdes Handicap in January, will start as the 120-pound topweight in the six-furlong Pirate's Bounty. A victory could lead to a start in the Grade 1 Ancient Title on Oct. 5.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Bubblegum Kid will attempt to defend his title in the Grade 3, $100,000 Speed to Spare Championship here Saturday.
Trained by Joan Petrowski and ridden by Rickey Walcott, Bubblegum Kid faces eight rivals in the 1 3/8-mile race, including two invaders from Hastings.
Bubblegum Kid appears to be ready for a peak effort in the Speed to Spare after finishing third in the 1 1/16-mile Klondike and second in the 1 5/16-mile Westerner. Walcott also rode Bubblegum Kid in the 2002 Speed to Spare.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Speedsters Celt and Commodore Craig figure to hook up early and set it up late for either likely favorite Bold 'n Keen or Kalfaari in the $40,000 Hastings Speed on Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong handicap drew seven horses and goes as the eighth race.
AUBURN, Wash. - Red-hot trainer Grant Forster saddles two promising 3-year-olds in a $50,000 optional claimer at a mile Saturday.
Forster, whose 23 wins from 100 starts at the meeting include six stakes victories, will send out Tamper, who is owned by Herman Sarkowsky, and Cody to Reggie, who races for Ron Crockett. Because of their separate ownership, Tamper and Cody to Reggie will race uncoupled. They are the only two entrants in the field of eight who will not race for the claiming tag.
DEL MAR, Calif. - She's Gottogetaway, the second-longest shot in a field of eight California-bred 2-year-old fillies, caught a weary Dirty Diana in the final stride to score a massive upset in Wednesday's $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes at Del Mar.
She's Gottogetaway ($59.80) trailed by more than six lengths with a quarter-mile remaining but rallied on the inside to win by a neck. Ridden by Isaias Enriquez, She's Gottogetaway finished six furlongs in 1:11.62.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Dennis Manning continues to map a cautious schedule for Grand Hombre, a rising star in the 3-year-old ranks.
Grand Hombre, an unbeaten gelding, captured the Grade 3, $750,000 Pennsylvania Derby Monday in his stakes debut. It was his fourth win.
Manning has designated the Grade 3, $400,000 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park Oct. 3 as Grand Hombre's next start.
Assuming all goes well in Indiana, Grand Hombre will close out his campaign in the Grade 3, $150,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Nov. 16.
It may be true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. How about teaching a veteran mare to switch distances drastically in something of a flashback to her youth?
Mandy's Gold has run a mile or longer in nine of her last 10 starts, including 1 1/4 miles in her most recent start, the Delaware Handicap. Now, after five races in row of at least 1 1/16 miles, trainer Mike Gorham wants Mandy's Gold to sprint.
