CHICAGO - If it looks like Coach Jimi Lee is too good for Sunday's $45,000 Shecky Greene Stakes, well, he probably is.
Coach Jimi Lee finished third last month in the $111,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill, beaten less than two lengths by Posse, who won the Grade 2 Riva Ridge last weekend at Belmont. Coach Jimi Lee steps down in class for the Shecky Greene simply for lack of better options.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Crowned King and Guaranteed Sweep, who each were winners at Lone Star Park in their last start, might be headed to the Grade 2, $300,000 Ohio Derby on June 21.
Crowned King picked up the third stakes win of his career last out, when he won the $200,000 USA Stakes on turf May 26. Earlier this year, he won the $125,000 Rebel on dirt at Oaklawn Park.
"We're going to make a decision on the race Monday morning," said Billy McKeever, who co-owns and trains Crowned King. "It will be between the [Ohio Derby] and the Iowa Derby."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The presence of multiple stakes winners Wando and Mobil, not to mention the upstart Rock Again, certainly hasn't scared away the opposition for next Sunday's 144th running of the $1 million Queen's Plate.
As of Friday morning, there were 15 potential Plate entrants, which would be two less than the maximum number allowed to start here in a 1 1/4-mile stakes race.
Several of the jockey assignments remained undecided, with the participation of several Plate hopefuls and the ensuing juggling of mounts dependent on workouts scheduled for this weekend.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Kalfaari's five-race win streak could be in jeopardy here Sunday in the $35,000 Free Press at six furlongs.
Only six will face Kalfaari, Manitoba's 2002 champion older horse, but they include an entry of Wondrous Zeal and Vernon Invader. One could keep him honest early and the other could make him run late.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Sunday's Bridgeburg and Adena Springs Matchmaker, both $60,000 stakes, launch Fort Erie's 21-race stakes program.
In the 1 1/16-mile Bridgeburg, Fort Erie trainer Tom Agosti sends out Right Stop, a winner of five races last year, against two Woodbine invaders, Malmaison and Ocean Front.
Right Stop was a closing second in his last start, a starter allowance at Woodbine May 9. In the six-furlong Hooters Sprint at Tampa Bay Downs April 6, Right Stop finished fifth, beaten three lengths. He also won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Tampa Feb. 22.
If it's true that history repeats itself, then Sawdust could be the sleeper in Sunday's $50,000 John D. Marsh Stakes for 3-year-old Virginia-breds at Colonial Downs.
A recent claim by trainer Robert Klesaris, Sawdust will be returning to turf for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Marsh since last October. Sawdust's only win in eight lifetime starts came the first time he was tried on grass in a mile race at Ellis Park.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The northern California fair circuit is mixing nostalgia with 21st-century technology this year.
The San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton began the annual summer circuit of seven fair meets Wednesday. With Bay Meadows ending its spring season Sunday, Stockton will race without an overlap for its second week. The fair season concludes in October with the Big Fresno Fair.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Northern California's fair circuit is a cauldron of opportunity for owners, trainers, and jockeys.
It allows virtual unknowns to compete with established horsemen, and it can be a proving ground, particularly for riders.
Last year, riding on the fair circuit nearly catapulted Francisco Duran to an Eclipse Award as the nation's leading apprentice.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Closing day at Bay Meadows signals an end to turf racing in northern California until the opening of the Bay Meadows Fair on Aug. 6.
Thus it's no surprise a decent field of eight will contest Sunday's $60,000-added Foster City Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Leading trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has the probable favorite in Ninebanks, freshened since consecutive victories in the Grade 3 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap and the Grade 2 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Of the three major stakes races in the handicap division this weekend, the one with the smallest purse is the $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park. It is also the one with the strongest field.
Grade 1 winners Volponi, Harlan's Holiday, and Evening Attire, and Metropolitan Handicap runner-up Saarland head a six-horse field entered for the Grade 2 Brooklyn, which drew a deeper field than either the Grade 1, $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs or the $400,000 Californian at Hollywood the same day.
