AUBURN, Wash. - Trainer Terry Gillihan, who improved his record to 29 winners from 90 starters at the meeting when he scored with both of his entrants on Sunday, saddles two dangerous contenders in Thursday's top offering at Emerald Downs.
The Thursday feature is a six-furlong race for $25,000 claimers that have not won two races other than a maiden race, and it has drawn a field of six older horses.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Though he dominated racing around the country in 2002, winning a North American-best 410 races, trainer Steve Asmussen was humbled by Saratoga last summer.
Asmussen went winless with his first 15 starters here before Private Emblem won the Albany Handicap. The trainer finished the meeting 3 for 24.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Bruce Headley walked about three-quarters of the length of his barn's shed row before stopping outside the stall of a tall bay horse who looked like he was trying to nap. "Here's King Kong," Headley said. And with that introduction, Kona Gold decided to prove his trainer prescient. He stepped to the front of his stall and tried to nip at a visitor.
A sneak preview of the biggest weekend of the Arlington Park meet is set for Saturday, when the main local preps for the Arlington Million and Beverly D. will be run at the Arlington Heights, Ill., track.
The $250,000 Arlington Handicap, a Grade 3 race contested at the same 1 1/4-mile distance as the Million, and the $150,000 Modesty, a Grade 3 race run at the same 1 3/16-mile distance as the Beverly D., both will take place Saturday. Adding to the allure of the Saturday stakes package is the $100,000 Round Table Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds.
AUBURN, Wash. - The local 2-year-old division at Emerald Downs has a leader, and his name is Sundance Circle.
Sundance Circle, a strapping son of Katowice, laid claim to the title with an authoritative 5 1/2-length victory at Emerald Downs over the favored Harvard Avenue in Saturday's $35,000 Emerald Express Stakes at six furlongs, getting the distance in a stakes-record 1:09. It was the second win in as many starts for Sundance Circle, who brought a bid of $52,000 from owner Mike Alhadeff at last year's Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association summer yearling sale.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While Wando was strutting his stuff down at Fort Erie last Sunday, the spotlight here at Woodbine was on the matchup between the 5-year-old turf specialists Strut the Stage and Perfect Soul in the Chinese Cultural Centre Stakes.
Perfect Soul, an Irish-bred owned by Charles Fipke and trained by Roger Attfield, prevailed in round one of the rivalry, leaving Strut the Stage 2 1/2 lengths back in second in the King Edward Breeders' Cup over 1 1/8 miles here June 15.
DEL MAR, Calif. - With Beau's Town, Bluesthestandard, and the venerable Kona Gold all expected to run in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Bing Crosby Handicap, trainer Howard Zucker has decided to pass the race with his sprinter Crafty C.T., despite a strong workout Tuesday morning at Del Mar.
Crafty C.T. worked five furlongs in 1:00, but Zucker said he did not want to face the fastest guns in the West this weekend.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - El Dorado Shooter, sure to have been the favorite in Saturday's $40,000 Ernest Finley Handicap at six furlongs at the Sonoma County Fair, is on the sidelines after undergoing surgery to remove a chip from his right front ankle last week.
A 6-year-old gelding who in his last start won the Grade 3, $150,000 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Sprint on June 7, El Dorado Shooter had a bullet five-furlong work in 57.80 seconds on July 12.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Commercant Vic is the likely favorite but Standing Tall is the one to catch in a one-mile maiden race for 3-year-olds and up Thursday at the Sonoma County Fair. Commercant Vic, coupled in the wagering with Robustinnier, and Standing Tall are both 3-year-olds.
Commercant Vic ran evenly in his debut in a strong maiden race at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 22. He didn't return until June 7, when he was a distant third in another better than average maiden sprint.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Prior turf success could be the key to handicapping Monmouth Park's Thursday feature, a $39,000 allowance race for fillies and mares going five furlongs on the grass.
Of the 10 fillies entered, only three have won on the turf. One of the trio, Six Pack Sally, is an alternate who draws into the field only in the event of a scratch from the main body of nine.
Six Pack Sally looks very tough in this spot, if she gets to run.