GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - The David Anderson stable has been red-hot in the opening weeks of the meet here, sending out winners at a 26-percent clip while hitting the board with 27 of 45 starters.
Last Friday, Anderson saddled four winners on the nine-race card to join Tim Gleason and Marv Johnson as the only trainers to accomplish that feat at this track. Gleason and Johnson have won four races on a card multiple times and share the record of five winners on a card.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Janet Bowers saddled her first winner as a trainer on Sunday, but that doesn't make her a greenhorn. Bowers, 45, has been involved in the sport for two decades, albeit behind the scenes.
She and her husband, Robert, own an all-purpose breeding, boarding, and training facility near Albuquerque, N.M., where Janet's first winner, Spirit de Azure, was bred and foaled.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - With Kentucky Derby hopefuls falling by the wayside seemingly on a daily basis, trainer Ralph Ziadie was not about to take any chances with Trust N Luck on Tuesday morning during the colt's final major prep for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 15.
Trust N Luck was the first horse out on the track following the renovation break at Calder on Tuesday, and, with regular rider Cornelio Velasquez aboard, worked an easy five furlongs in 1:02.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When Sunscreen gave up so easily in the Grade 2 La Prevoyante Handicap, trainer Jonathan Sheppard knew a change of scenery was in order.
"It may have been too tough a spot for her anyway," Sheppard said, "but normally she keeps galloping. That day she packed it in."
NEW ORLEANS - There is nuts, and then there is nuts. Remember, Tuesday was Mardi Gras. So while it might seem folly to take on both Badge of Silver and Kafwain in Sunday's $750,000 Louisiana Derby, it is probably not as crazy as walking down Bourbon Street wearing nothing but carefully placed strips of yellow "Do Not Cross" police tape, which one couple used for clothing on a damp, rainy Fat Tuesday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - So far March has come in like a lion, and another wet track could impact Thursday's feature, a $56,000 classified allowance at 1 1/16 miles that drew seven older males, headed by entries from Richard Dutrow Jr. and Pat Reynolds.
Dutrow, whose 23 wins put him one behind defending-champ Gary Contessa for leading trainer, has entered My Request and Quiet One, and both are capable of triple-digit Beyers when it's wet. My Request ran a 101 in winning a high-priced claiming race in the slop at Saratoga last summer and earned a 100 on Jan. 2 when third in the mud.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A small field of perhaps only four - led by Grade 1 winners Composure and Elloluv - is taking shape for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday. Caesar Dominguez trains Long Term Wish, and posed the rhetorical question: "Can I run third? If I can run third in a Grade 1, then I'm going to run."
Long Term Wish, upset winner of a $112,000 sprint for California-breds Feb. 8, has won 3 of 6 and has never started around two turns. According to Dominguez, a third-place finish by Long Term Wish would increase her residual value by $100,000.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A 6-1 overlay in a similar race last month, Thunder Bullet is out for his third straight win Thursday at Santa Anita in the seventh-race feature. His odds be will be cut in half, which is appropriate considering the weekday card is replete with short fields and underlay prices.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - A clean trip might be all four-time stakes winner Cowboy Stuff needs to win his second start after a four-month layoff in Thursday's six-furlong allowance feature at Oaklawn Park.
In his comeback race, a $60,000 optional claimer Feb. 5, Cowboy Stuff was racing in a prominent position before encountering trouble and finishing sixth.
ALBANY, Calif. - It appears likely that Peace Rules, a graded stakes winner on the turf, will run in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
Trainer Bobby Frankel put off an official announcement Tuesday but said Victor Espinoza would ride the colt if entered. Later, on during a national conference call about the El Camino Real and the Louisiana Derby, Espinoza said he planned to be at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday and Fair Grounds on Sunday.