AUBURN, Wash. - Americas Pride will shoot for a third consecutive victory when she faces five other 2-year-old fillies in Saturday's $35,000 Knights Choice Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Emerald Downs.
Americas Pride, an Oregon-bred by the first-year sire Baquero, graduated from the maiden ranks here in her fourth start on June 21. In that race, she led past every pole to dispatch $16,000 company by 3 1/2 lengths in a swift 57.80 seconds for five furlongs.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Atlantic Ocean had more trouble than success in major stakes on turf at Hollywood Park earlier this year.
Atlantic Ocean finished second, a neck behind Quero Quero, in the Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap on June 7 after being stuck in traffic on the final turn. In the American Oaks on July 5, she ran third to the world-class Dimitrova despite traffic problems through the stretch.
With racing having moved to Del Mar, Atlantic Ocean can start anew when she runs in Saturday's $150,000 San Clemente Handicap at one mile on turf.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes will take a back seat to the more prestigious Whitney Handicap on Saturday's 10-race program at Saratoga. From a betting standpoint, however, the six-furlong, Grade 2 Amsterdam is unquestionably the more interesting of the two events, and it features a wide-open field of seven 3-year-olds led by the red-hot Posse.
Posse enters the Amsterdam sporting a three-race win streak that includes a nose decision over Midas Eyes in the Grade 2 Riva Ridge Breeders' Cup Stakes at Belmont Park on June 7.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - It's time to get back on the bus.
Eight weeks after their rollicking Triple Crown ride ended in the Belmont Stakes, the connections of Funny Cide, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, will pile into their yellow school busses and make their way to Monmouth Park for Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational, in which seven 3-year-olds were entered on Thursday morning.
The Kentucky Derby has "My Old Kentucky Home" and the Preakness has "Maryland, My Maryland,"
The $1 million Haskell Invitational now has a theme song, "Born To Run," that, in time, could also become closely identified with the race.
Monmouth Park, having already extended invitations to the stars of the 3-year-old division for the Grade 1 Haskell, reached out to another noteworthy performer - Bruce Springsteen - for the race anthem.
DEL MAR, Calif. - By a margin of four days, Ninebanks is eligible to start in Saturday's $75,000 Wickerr Handicap at Del Mar.
The one-mile turf race is restricted to nonwinners of a first-place purse of $40,000 at a mile or over since May 1. Ninebanks earned $120,000 when he won the Grade 2 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Handicap at Bay Meadows on April 26.
Since then, Ninebanks has been a close second in the minor Foster City Handicap on June 15 and last behind the undefeated Candy Ride in the American Handicap over 1 1/8 miles at Hollywood Park on July 4.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Surprise Halo and World Light, who finished one-two in the Alamedan Handicap on July 6 at Pleasanton, will square off again in Saturday's $100,000 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at Santa Rosa.
Surprise Halo, trained by Dennis Ward, and World Light, under the care of Greg Gilchrist, figure to be tough in the 1 1/16-mile race, and both trainers believe their eight rivals will be facing even better horses than ran in Pleasanton.
That race was the first in nearly eight months for World Light.
After winning the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April, the sky seemed the limit for Ruby's Reception.
"But she got sick right after that," said trainer Larry Jones, "and when we brought her back at Prairie Meadows, she caught a couple of tracks that I thought were really speed-favoring."
In his prime, trainer Reynaldo Nobles had as many as 150 horses in his barn. He became renowned for bringing back Deputy Minister from an injury to win the Tom Fool, the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship, and the Donn Handicap in 1983. Ten years later, Nobles trained Dehere, a superb 2-year-old who became the first horse to sweep Saratoga's juvenile stakes series for males - the Hopeful, Saratoga Special, and Sanford - en route to an Eclipse Award.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Trainer Kevin Joy once had a formula for success at Suffolk Downs, but he chose to change the playbook with disastrous results. With that lesson learned and a back-to-basics approach, Joy enjoyed a phenomenal run here this week by saddling five consecutive winners, including four on one day.
In the mid-1990's, Joy appeared to be poised for long-term success in New England and perhaps even bigger things beyond the region. After getting his start in 1986, Joy built his stable from just a couple of horses to an entire barnful by 1994.
