ARCADIA, Calif. - Doug O'Neill admits he will be at a loss of sorts on Saturday afternoon with only one runner at Hollywood Park.
"I love the action in the afternoons," he said Thursday morning. "I'll have to slow down on the caffeine that day."
Since the Hollywood Park meeting began, O'Neill's stable has not had many slow moments. Through Monday, he led all trainers with 19 winners, exceeding his total from the 2002 spring-summer meeting with less than half of the season completed.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Plans for Beau's Town, a top regional sprinter who was to run on the Belmont Stakes undercard in the Grade 2 True North, have changed. The horse will instead be pointed for the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows on June 21, with his major summer goal being the Grade 3, $500,000 Smile Sprint Handicap at Calder Race Course on July 12.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The grass continues to grow lush and green at Monmouth Park as the turf course has yet to be used. The Grade 3 Red Bank Handicap and the Grade 3 Jersey Derby were among the opening-weekend races washed onto the main track by persistent showers.
Hoping against hope, the race office carded two grass races for Thursday and one for Friday. All three were moved to the main track.
If the weather cooperates, grass racing finally will debut Saturday, in time for the $50,000 Revidere Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile.
Shiny Sheet, a winner of three stakes last year, makes her 5-year-old debut in Saturday's $75,000 Skipat Stakes at Pimlico.
Ten fillies and mares were entered in the six-furlong Skipat.
Bruanna, who looms the main speed, is the one to beat.
Trained by Michael Gorham, Bruanna won five of seven starts last year, including back-to-back stakes at Delaware Park. In her last race, Bruanna won a small stakes at Suffolk Downs on May 3.
Bruanna, who has no rider named, drew post 7.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Ms. Sadira won the Drumtop Handicap two weeks ago. The weather has conspired to give many of her opponents in that race a rematch, as Saturday's $35,000 My Fair Lady Stakes has been moved off the turf to create a near carbon copy of the Drumtop.
Ms. Sadira has seemingly saved her best for stakes races. She stalked a hot pace in the Drumtop and won by 1 1/2 lengths under Jorge Vargas. Her only other win in 2003 came in the Hannah Dustin Stakes in February.
Testify and Joe's Son Joey bring the strongest credentials into the $100,000 Turf Monster Handicap on Saturday, the first day the grass course will be open this season at Philadelphia Park.
Both sprint specialists need a fast pace and a surface that's not overly favorable to early speed in order to win the five-furlong stakes, however.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Saturday's $60,000-added Sunnyvale Handicap, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, gives several local runners a chance to compete at their best distance.
Lacie Girl, northern California's best and most consistent 4-year-old filly, heads a field of six runners. Lacie Girl has not finished worse than second in nine starts in northern California and is only a nose loss shy of being undefeated at Saturday's distance.
The highweight at 120 pounds, Lacie Girl is the favorite in the race with her strong closing kick.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Monday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont brought back fond memories for trainer Mike Keogh, who captured the Met Mile with Langfuhr in 1997.
Keogh trains a pair of talented sons of Langfuhr - Mobil and Wando - who are arguably the top two prospects for the June 22 Queen's Plate. Mobil will have his final Plate prep Saturday at Woodbine in the $162,600 Plate Trial Stakes, a nine-furlong race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
MIAMI - A second-level allowance race typically carries a $28,000 purse during the Calder summer meet. But because of a special endowment from the Florida Breeders' Association, Saturday's Royal Glint Stakes - for nonwinners of two other than - will be worth $50,000 to eight of the nine horses in the race.
The only horse in the field not eligible for the extra money is the Kentucky-bred Just Say the Word, and he is the one to beat.