DEL MAR, Calif. - Patrick Valenzuela, the leading rider at Del Mar, and jockey Omar Berrio were each fined $500 by Del Mar stewards on Wednesday for fighting following Monday's third race.
The fight was preceded by the disqualification of Valenzuela's mount, Grinding It Out, from first to last place for interfering with Berrio's mount, Westward Star. The stewards gave Valenzuela a five-day suspension for careless riding for that incident.
MIAMI - Formal Miss and Dakota Light will likely vie for favoritism but it may be the up-and-coming Spectacular Lisa who proves the one to beat in Saturday's $75,000 Judy's Red Shoes Stakes at Calder.
The Judy's Red Shoes is carded for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. But with the availability of the grass course always a question mark here during the summer and no standouts in the division, the race lured a full field of 12, plus two also-eligibles.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Beulah Park, Ohio's oldest racetrack, begins its 80th season of racing Saturday afternoon. The highlight of the 81-day fall meeting, which runs through Dec. 21, is the Best of Ohio Championships on Oct. 4.
The Best of Ohio is a series of stakes races for Ohio-breds in various divisions that rotates yearly between the state's three tracks - Beulah Park, Thistledown, and River Downs. The Best of Ohio was moved forward a week this year to avoid a conflict with the defending NCAA champion Ohio State football team. Oct. 4 is the Buckeyes' bye week this season.
There are still two months remaining in Delaware Park's season and 3 1/2 months until the end of 2003. In Ramon Dominguez's mind, that's far too early to start scoreboard-watching or begin a countdown.
To those who like paying attention to numbers, however, it's hard to overlook that Dominguez is within range of what would be a pair of notable achievements.
Coming into Saturday's program, Dominguez has ridden 177 winners at Delaware, moving rapidly toward the single season record of 218 set by Mike McCarthy in 1997.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Follow Me Home, her four-race winning streak stunningly snapped in the Miss Woodford Stakes, hits the comeback trail Saturday afternoon in the $50,000 Joseph Buckelew Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Follow Me Home will face 11 rivals in the five-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies.
Trainer Bob Levine still can't figure why Follow Me Home finished a tired fifth in the Miss Woodford after four sparkling efforts.
POMONA, Calif. - The gelding Legendary Weave cooled off at the same time his trainer, Jack Carava, began to heat up. Saturday at Fairplex Park, handicappers will decide which is more important - the form cycle of the horse, or the hot streak of his stable.
A field of 10 entered the $50,000 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race that represents a steep drop in class for Legendary Weave. The lineup includes veterans Truly a Judge, Dixie Law, Infinite Faith, Good Meeting, and High Tracks - not a graded-stakes runner in the bunch.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Few took Chopinina seriously heading into last year's Atto Mile, where she was making her first appearance in 10 weeks after opening up her campaign with a pair of wins in optional claiming races.
But many were reconsidering their positions after Chopinina, at 55-1, led the way to deep stretch before giving way to California invader Good Journey and settling for second.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Cruising Executive and Miss Crissy meet for the second time in two months Saturday at Woodbine in the $137,125 La Prevoyante Stakes, a one-mile turf race for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies.
Cruising Executive beat Miss Crissy in the July 16 Passing Mood Stakes, benefiting from an ideal pace setup. She raced well off a three-way speed duel in that seven-furlong turf race before closing to prevail by a length. She was racing just a week removed from a maiden win in her 2003 return.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - For the third consecutive year, Winnipeg-based owner-trainer Pat Matthews struck with a big-priced winner after shipping into eastern Canada.
On Tuesday, Matthews won a maiden special weight on the turf with Jasper Park at a $43.60 payoff. Jasper Park, a 4-year-old colt making his seventh lifetime start, had not raced since July 20 at Assiniboia Downs.
Matthews started his yearly trek to Ontario in 2001, and it was an auspicious beginning. He won right away that year at Fort Erie, in a nonwinners of three at $14,000 with By Bird, who paid $44.80.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Multiple stakes winner Wiggins appears to have scared off most of the competition for Saturday's $75,000 Prairie Meadows Derby, as only five rivals will line up to face him in the closing-day feature of the 48-day mixed meeting.
Trainer Tony Granitz considered shipping Wiggins to run in the $750,000 Pennsylvania Derby earlier in the month, but passed in favor of this spot. As a result, Wiggins will be the odds-on choice in the 1 1/16-mile Prairie Meadows Derby.