The story of Storybook Kid can only get better Friday if the former $7,500 claimer wins the first stakes of his career in the $75,000 Independence Handicap at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
Storybook Kid should vie for favoritism in the 1 1/16-mile turf race with Seainsky. Also in the seven-horse field are stakes winners Big Hubie, Skate Away, April's Lucky Boy, Rebridled, and Dash for Daylight.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Paul Maxwell has been hoping to run Formal Miss in the $100,000 Walmac Lone Star Oaks since last fall. He gets his wish Friday, when Formal Miss will take on 10 other 3-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile turf race at Lone Star Park.
Formal Miss, a stakes winner last out at Calder Race Course, is the lone out-of-towner in the field. Her chief competition appears to be the stakes winner Sea Bloom and undefeated Clear in the West, who is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Bedanken.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Horses have started to arrive at Monmouth Park for Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 United Nations Handicap.
The Tin Man, from California, and Kim Loves Bucky, out of Kentucky, arrived on the same plane Tuesday evening at Kennedy Airport, and both were vanned here.
The Tin Man, who should ensure a solid pace in the race, galloped over the main track Wednesday morning under Crystal Brown, trainer Richard Mandella's assistant.
Mandella is expected to arrive Thursday afternoon to supervise final preparations.
AUBURN, Wash. - The much-anticipated return of Flying Notes will have to wait.
Trainer Bud Klokstad reported that Flying Notes, who ran the fastest 1 1/8 miles in the nation last year when he won the Emerald Breeders' Cup Derby by more than 11 lengths in 1:45.40, took sick last weekend and will miss his scheduled return in Friday's $40,000 Independence Day Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lord Nelson, ridden confidently by Frank Fuentes, scored a comfortable three-length win over stablemate Let's Go Rusty in the Grade 3, $110,582 Lieutenant Governors' at Hastings Tuesday afternoon.
Sent off as the 6-5 favorite, Lord Nelson went three wide while he stalked a moderate pace set by Ekati. Lord Nelson made his move approaching the quarter pole and had the lead by the middle of the stretch turn. He carried a one-length advantage turning for home and was never threatened.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Ballingarry was a 9-1 outsider the last time he raced on Arlington's turf course, but this weekend he takes center stage. Ballingarry shipped here Tuesday from trainer Laura de Seroux's stable in Southern California to start Saturday in the Stars and Stripes Breeders' Cup Handicap, where he's certain to be favored.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Prairie Meadows's 48-day mixed meet begins Friday and will feature a beefed up stakes schedule and a new racing secretary.
The mixed-meet stakes schedule received a boost when the Iowa Festival of Racing, which previously had been conducted over several consecutive days, was disbanded this year. The stakes races that made up the Festival were split up between the final two weekends of the Thoroughbred meet, which ended Saturday, and the first two weekends of the mixed meet.
Thunder and Rain, a consistent performer in California who ran an uncharacteristic poor race earlier in the Colonial Downs meet, and Scootin' Girl, an accomplished sprinter trying to stretch out, top a field of 11 fillies and mares in the $50,000 Brookmeade Stakes.
Thunder and Rain ran well in several turf races going long in northern California earlier this year but was sixth when she was asked to sprint in the Somethingroyal Stakes two weeks ago. She should like the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Brookmeade better.
A pair of one-mile turf stakes, each worth $75,000, headline the Fourth of July card at Mountaineer Park.
In the Firecracker Handicap for fillies and mares, 8-year-old Flirt With Danger and 6-year-old Still as Sweet are the most accomplished turf horses.
Flirt With Danger will be making her first start since she was claimed for $35,000 almost two months ago. A five-time winner on turf, Flirt With Danger ran her best race this year when she missed by a nose against high-priced optional claimers at Tampa Bay Downs, earning a Beyer of 87.
Pure speed at a short distance will be on display when nine older horses contest the $100,000 Charles Town Dash on Friday night's holiday program.
Boston Brat, a record-setting sprinter at Gulfstream Park last winter, and Sheryar Special, winner of last year's Dash, are the top contenders in the 4 1/2-furlong stakes.