ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Gloria Buckridge made one of the smartest investments in her racing career when she nominated Capt. Fly Hook to Sunday's $150,000 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap. She hoped the field might be small, and her gamble paid off as only three other runners entered the 1 1/8-mile turf race.
Three of the four entrants are based locally, Ninebanks, Surprise Halo, and Capt. Fly Hook.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Kathleen O'Connell and owner-breeder Gil Campbell's decision to scratch Ivanavinalot out of an easier spot in Sunday's Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs and run her in Friday's $200,000 Bonnie Miss Stakes at Gulfstream Park proved a good choice when Ivanavinalot wore down My Boston Gal for a 1 3/4-length victory in the marquee race for 3-year-old fillies at the meeting.
Trainer Kathleen O'Connell's decision to run Ivanavinalot in Friday's Grade 2 Bonnie Miss Stakes at Gulfstream Park surely was met with a sigh of relief from the connections of the six other 3-year-old fillies entered in Sunday's $150,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs.
Ivanavinalot won the Bonnie Miss and would have been the overwhelming favorite to win the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, and her defection has now left the Grade 3 race up for grabs.
PORTLAND, Ore. - A competitive field of six Oregon-bred 3-year-old fillies will contest Sunday's one-mile, $10,000 Mary Goldblatt Stakes at Portland Meadows.
The two stakes winners in the field - Our Lucky Kiss, who won the Janet Wineberg; and Carlyn Road, who won the Jane Driggers Debutante - will be well-bet, and so will the rapidly improving allowance winner Valentine Surprise.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - With Colorful Tour, who has won his last four races, and 119-pound highweight Crafty Shaw sitting on a top effort following a tough trip last out, it will be tough to separate the top two in the Grade 3, $100,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Sunday.
The 1 1/16-mile race for older horses is the final local prep for the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 5. The race drew eight, including Windward Passage and Slider, who earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start.
Zarb's Luck, who won the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Sprint at Fair Grounds in December, runs Sunday night in the $50,000 Cajun Express at Delta Downs in Vinton, La. The one-turn, five-furlong race is for statebreds.
Zarb's Luck raced at two turns in his last race. He was a close third after setting most of the pace at a mile in the $150,000 Gold Cup at Delta. Guy Smith rides for trainer Edward Johnston.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Great Notion, who was added as a separate betting interest in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager after his nine-length win in the $75,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park, will make his next start in Oaklawn's $125,000 Rebel on March 22.
Great Notion had also been under consideration for the Grade 2, $500,000 Lane's End at Turfway the same day, but his connections have decided to stay home. "We're going to follow the Arkansas Derby trail," said Darrin Miller, who trains Great Notion for Silverton Farms.
NEW ORLEANS - With two wins in four starts, Mountain General led the way through the marathon series of sprint stakes races here this winter, but the last leg is the most demanding.
When Bonapaw and Beau's Town entered Sunday's $150,000 Pelleteri Breeders' Cup Handicap, the race became deeper than the four stakes that preceded it.
"I'm just glad those two stayed away this long," said Steve Asmussen, Mountain General's trainer.
ALBANY, Calif. - Jockey Ron Warren Jr. rode three winners Thursday at Golden Gate fields to reach the 3,000-victory mark.
Warren won with At The Copa ($2.60) in the first race, Yankee Pirate ($4.60) in the second and Tin And Tonic ($5.80) in the seventh for his 3,000th win.
The 38-year-old rider scored his first victory aboard Fabulous Too, trained by his brother, Don, on Aug. 16, 1982.
He was Northern California's leading apprentice rider in 1983. The perennial top-10 rider has finished second in the Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows jockey standings eight times.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Handicapping 101 teaches us that when the best horse in a race is also the lone speed and said race is run over an inside-speed-favoring surface such as Gulfstream Park, bet as much as you want.
Saturday's Florida Derby can't be that simple, can it? After all, it's a $1 million, Grade 1 race on the road to the Kentucky Derby. There has to be some horse among the six other participants who can make Trust N Luck - said best and lone-speed horse in aforementioned race - work for his money.
