FORT ERIE, Ontario - The three trainers that are atop of the Fort Erie standings have one thing in common: They used Tampa Bay Downs in Florida as the base for their operations during the winter.
Layne Giliforte, who took over first place here Monday, has been competing at the Florida track for a number of years. He had 14 wins heading into Saturday's program.
John Simms, just one win behind, completed his first venture at Tampa Bay in the spring.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It will be the blazing speed of Midas Eyes versus the powerful closing kick of Posse in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Riva Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park.
Midas Eyes, purchased by Bobby Frankel for Edmund Gann last fall, is 2 for 2 this year with powerful victories in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Derby Trial. In the Swale, his first start off a seven-month layoff, Midas Eyes defeated Posse by 9 1/4 lengths while running seven furlongs in 1:21.06. The Riva Ridge is also run at seven furlongs.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Grade 2 True North Handicap on Saturday at Belmont Park is loaded with predictable horses among its seven entrants. Pioneer Boy will go to the lead. Shake You Down will follow or contest. Here's Zealous will lay off. Highway Prospector will try to close off the hot pace.
So where does that leave State City, the lone Group 1 winner in the field? That's the biggest question facing horseplayers in the six-furlong True North.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The relentless rain of recent weeks has left the Belmont Park turf course soggy, but that has not dampened the mood of trainer Jimmy Toner, who relishes the idea of getting Wonder Again on a softened course in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Just a Game Breeders' Cup Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
"I'd love to see a little give in the ground," Toner said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Bobby Frankel aims for back-to-back wins in Saturday's $400,000 Manhattan Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
Frankel, who won last year's Grade 1 Manhattan with Beat Hollow, has the likely favorite, Denon. Frankel also entered Requete, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs May 3. The Frankel horses are not coupled.
Denon and With Anticipation are the co-highweights at 122 pounds in the 1 1/4-mile Manhattan, which will be run on the inner turf and drew a stellar cast of 11.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - General Challenge, who lost his comeback in April following an absence of more than 2 1/2 years, returns in a $58,000 allowance race Saturday and faces a difficult opponent in the Argentine import Candy Ride.
The allowance race will be run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, part of a program that features two stakes races.
General Challenge finished last of nine in the Tiznow Stakes on April 26, his first start since August 2000. General Challenge, a 7-year-old, has won 9 of 19 starts and $2,876,018 for Golden Eagle Farm and trainer Bob Baffert.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The rematch of Cee's Elegance and Jetinto Houston, the first two finishers in a thrilling B. Thoughtful Stakes on April 26, is only one subplot in an intriguing running of the $100,000 Desert Stormer Handicap at Hollywood Park on Saturday.
Cee's Elegance and Jetinto Houston were separated by only three-quarters of a length in the seven-furlong B. Thoughtful. They will have more than each other to contend with in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer, for fillies and mares over six furlongs.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Rutters Renegade finished a sharp second when she made her United States debut in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Hollywood Park on May 17.
Normally, that sort of performance would make her a leading contender for Saturday's $200,000 Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap, but this year it's not that simple.
The Grade 2 Honeymoon, run over 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies, has drawn a deep field, with several runners capable of winning the stakes, which serves as an important prep for the $750,000 American Oaks on July 5.