VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Roscoe Pito displayed tremendous courage in winning the B.C. Cup Stallion Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Monday. He battled through quick fractions and then was game in holding off a determined Illusive Force. It wasn't the type of race that his trainer John Snow was looking for though.
Snow has his eyes on a bigger prize, the $250,000 B.C. Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 21, and he has been working on getting Roscoe Pito to relax.
AUBURN, Wash. - Most of the attention in Sunday's 1 1/16-mile Seattle Slew Breeders' Cup Handicap, the final prep for the $125,000 Emerald Breeders' Cup Derby on Sept. 1, will be focused on the three highweights.
Condotierri, 122 pounds, will be a deserving favorite off his 5 3/4-length victory in last month's 1 1/16-mile Tacoma Handicap, which seemed to fulfill the promise he showed in winning last season's Gottstein Futurity at the same distance.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Williams News, a high-profile visitor in the past, has quietly taken up residence here in the barn of trainer Steve Owens.
"I've had him here for about two weeks," said Owens, who took delivery of Williams News after being contacted by the gelding's owners, On Target Racing Stable. "They're trying to put his life back together, to try and get him past the $1 million mark."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - For the third time in 15 days, a stakes race on the northern California fair circuit failed to fill.
Sunday's $50,000-added Mid-Peninsula Stakes drew only four entries. The 5 1/2-furlong stakes for 2-year-old Cal-bred fillies will be rescheduled for next weekend, racing secretary Greg Brent said.
On July 26, the Ernest Finley, an open six-furlong sprint, failed to fill at Santa Rosa. It was brought back five days later and run with five entrants.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Slightlymorelikely, coming off a runaway maiden victory, will likely be favored in Sunday's $136,250 Ontario Debutante Stakes, a six-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine
Slightlymorelikely, a Florida-bred by speed sire Rizzi, was claimed from both of her starts. She finished second in her debut for trainer Mark Casse on June 7, taken for $40,000 by trainer Vito Armata.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Though next Saturday's Arlington Million offers twice the purse and arguably better ground, Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational offers an extra two furlongs that supersede money.
For the California-based trainer Laura de Seroux, those furlongs meant shipping Ballingarry to Saratoga rather than back to Arlington Park where Ballingarry won last month's Stars and Stripes Handicap, the traditional prep for the 1 1/4-mile Arlington Million.
Ballingarry will break from post 9 under John Velazquez in the Sword Dancer.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In the past, betting on trainer Nick Zito's first-time starters at Saratoga was a sure way to the poor house. According to Jim Mazur's "Saratoga Handicapper," Zito entered the 2003 Spa meeting having won with just one of his last 52 maiden firsters.
The times, they are a changing.
When Aladdin's Lamp lit up the board ($24.20) in Wednesday's second race at Saratoga, Zito had won with his second first-time starter at the meet. Zito says he's not done yet.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Dirty Diana and Tizdubai will start in Saturday's $150,000 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar coming off completely different wins in July.
On July 25, Dirty Diana won the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes for California-breds over 5 1/2 furlongs with a devastating show of speed.
Tizdubai has made only one start, overcoming trouble to win a maiden race at Hollywood Park on July 6.
HENDERSON, Ky. - It's not the most conventional route, especially for a Southern California trainer looking to make a Breeders' Cup race that will be run in . . . Southern California.
But Wally Dollase will do whatever is necessary to wind up back home with Bare Necessities, who on Saturday will use the $200,000 Gardenia Handicap at Ellis Park as her penultimate prep for the Oct. 25 Breeders' Cup Distaff.
