ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Owsley set a stakes record winning the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap at Arlington last weekend, and Bien Nicole, done in by a sharp early pace, ran strongly to finish a length behind her. The connections of both mares are up in the air about running back in the Grade 1 Beverly D. on
Aug. 16, but the direction the race has taken this week may tilt their perspectives.
Coastalota will make a rare start on turf Saturday night in the $50,000 Margarita Breeders' Cup Handicap at Retama Park. The 117-pound starting highweight in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares is Academic Angel.
Coastalota last raced on turf in May 2002, and finished third to stakes winner Mysia Jo in a turf allowance race at Lone Star. More recently, Coastalota finished third in the $50,000 Delicada on dirt at Louisiana Downs on July 19.
A winner of $348,598, she is trained by Randy Mayfield and will be ridden by Bobby Walker Jr.
The $50,000 Chapel Belle Stakes at Louisiana Downs reads like the classic tortoise and hare tale. Heart of the Cat, a front-runner, figures to have to hold off Tiva's Little Sis, a closer, to win Saturday's 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.
Others in the race, which is a steppingstone to the $75,000 Marie P. DeBartolo Oaks on the Super Derby undercard Sept. 20, include Page Me Later, winner of the $35,000 Sam Houston Oaks, and Churchill Downs maiden winner Lady Sabrina.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Taiaslew has been so brilliant winning all four of his races in western Canada this season that he has people from Vancouver to Toronto wondering just how good he really is.
An exceedingly fast Washington-bred 3-year-old, Taiaslew has won 8 of his 9 career starts, including seven stakes. He has so dominated his competition, while rarely being asked to break out of a gallop, that his trainer, Greg Tracy, sounded almost apologetic when he talked about Taiaslew's three-length victory in the Manitoba Derby Trial at Assiniboia Downs on July 13.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Leading Role and Chopinina, who are both seeking their first stakes victory, are the main contenders in Saturday's $169,050 Royal North Handicap, a six-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares at Woodbine.
Leading Role won the allowance prep for the Royal North under Emile Ramsammy despite encountering some trouble along the way, according to her trainer and part-owner, Gail Casselman.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nashinda, the promising 2-year-old filly who has been an impressive winner of her two starts here, shipped out for Lexington, Ky., on Thursday morning and will undergo season-ending ankle surgery at the Rood and Riddle veterinary clinic.
Owned by the Augustin Stable of George Strawbridge Jr. and trained by Mac Benson, Nashinda had won her debut at 4 1/2 furlongs on May 17 and the My Dear Stakes at five furlongs five weeks later. She then developed a shin problem and was to be freshened for a fall campaign.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Pembroke Hall has been perfect for trainer David Schmidt this year.
Tuesday, the 6-year-old gelding scored his fifth win from as many starts. All of the wins came in two-furlong races. Pembroke Hall now has a string of six quarter-mile wins, having also won his final start in 2002.
Schmidt won't have a chance to continue the streak, however, since Pembroke Hall has been moved to another barn. Trainer Don MacRae claimed the runner for $21,000 for owner Darryl Jackson.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Leloup, who will start in the British Columbia Cup Classic on Monday, was one of the reasons trainer Peter Stephen headed to New Mexico to race at Sunland Park last winter. Leloup was one of the best 3-year-olds at Hastings last year, but because he didn't make his first start until August, he never faced the leaders of the division.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - A field of four 3-year old colts and geldings will compete over one mile in the $6,500 City of Bridges Sophomore at Marquis Downs, and Quiz the Wizard appears to be the logical favorite.
Quiz the Wizard won the Western Heritage here last year, and his only start of 2003 has been a winning effort. This race, like the Western Heritage, is restricted to Saskatchewan-breds.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Two renditions of the North Dakota Stallion Stakes highlight the card here Saturday, with $20,000 up for grabs in the 3-year-old division and $30,000 available for the 2-year-old race.
Restricted to foals sired by stallions made eligible through the North Dakota Thoroughbred Association, the third race will showcase the 3-year-olds, with the 2-year-olds going to post in race six.