SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Frank Monteleone admits he's feeling a little pressure.
He is the new trainer for Ladies Din, who will start in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile on turf at Bay Meadows. It will be Ladies Din's first start since a spectacular victory in last May's Grade 1 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Handicap, his last race for trainer Julio Canani.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Now that turf season has begun in New York, it is safe for trainer Christophe Clement to come out of hibernation.
Clement, who winters in Florida with strings at Payson Park and Gulfstream, has shipped the bulk of his stable back to New York. Among the recent arrivals was Shaanmer, an Irish-bred colt who is expected to make his North American debut in Saturday's $100,000 Fort Marcy Handicap at Aqueduct.
The Grade 3 Fort Marcy, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles, is the first turf stakes of the year in New York.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Trainer Steve Asmussen has named Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey to ride Lady Tak in the Kentucky Oaks next Friday at Churchill Downs, saying the circumstances involving the star filly's regular rider, Donnie Meche, forced him to seek another jockey.
Bailey replaces Corey Lanerie, who rode Lady Tak in her last start, the April 5 Ashland Stakes, the filly's first loss in six career starts. Lanerie was substituting in the Ashland for Meche, who rode Lady Tak in each of her five wins.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - To bounce, or not to bounce? That is the question Woodbine horseplayers should be pondering when they consider the chances of horses making their first start following a big comeback effort.
Local trainers have two options at the end of the Woodbine season, which ended in December last year. Some send their horses away to compete in the United Stakes, but most lay them up on the farm in order to freshen them up for the following year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mike Keogh's plan has been to keep Wando and Mobil apart for as long as possible on the road to the $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine on June 22.
That's why Wando was back in action winning last Saturday's six-furlong Woodstock, after opening up his campaign with a second-place finish over the same distance in the March 30 Achievement.
Mobil, meanwhile, was nominated to both the Achievement and the Woodstock but is pointing for the $150,000 Queenston, a seven-furlong race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds here May 3.
Sum Special Strawfly, runner-up in the Grade 1 Golden State Futurity last year, goes for his first graded stakes win in Friday night's Grade 2, $144,000 El Primero Del Ano Derby for colts and geldings at Los Alamitos.
Despite being bumped, Sum Special Strawfly won his trial on April 11 by a neck with a 19.870-second time for the 400 yards. Ramon Sanchez, the leading rider at Los Alamitos the past two years, was aboard Sum Special Strawfly, his first mount since being injured in a Feb. 23 riding accident.
Handicappers studying Hawthorne's featured eighth race Friday have a dilemma. Every one of the seven horses entered in the $34,000 optional claiming race has a legitimate chance to be in the money, if not win.
Talknow, Devil's Domain, and Fighting Indians are the likely favorites in the 6 1/2-furlong race. All but Fighting Indians, who remains eligible for the four-other-than allowance condition, will run with for a $100,000 claiming price.
In a major scheduling change, the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby will now be held at the end of the Remington Park meet this fall instead of the beginning, with the new date set for Nov. 16.
"By placing it later in the year, it gives everybody an opportunity for a last graded event on dirt for 3-year-olds," said Fred Hutton, racing secretary at Remington.
The purse for the Oklahoma Derby, which will still be run at 1 1/8 miles, has been reduced to $150,000-added after being worth $250,000 in 2002.