HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Sunday is a chance to take a breather. A day after Oaklawn Park was to have had Azeri, the 2002 Horse of the Year, and Medaglia d'Oro running in separate $500,000 stakes, there is just one feature, the $50,000 Bayakoa.
The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares continues the Racing Festival of the South. It drew six entrants, some of whom might have been avoiding Azeri in the Apple Blossom.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Memo from Patrick Biancone to the next trainer who wins the Flash Stakes at Belmont in June: Don't start dreaming about the following year's Kentucky Derby.
"It is extremely rare for a horse to win the Flash and become a Derby horse," Biancone said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - One and Twenty and Fortuitous have a lot in common. The two fillies are undefeated on turf, won divisions of Woodbine's Natalma Stakes at 2, and return from winter vacations to launch their 3-year-old campaigns in Sunday's $75,000 Via Borghese Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The Via Borghese drew a field of 10 3-year-old fillies and will be run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
One and Twenty was 2 for 2 on grass last season but has not started since closing out her campaign finishing third over the main track in Aqueduct's Miss Grillo Stakes Oct. 27.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct's inner-track meet is the place where a talented apprentice rider can gain recognition. This winter, bug riders John McKee, Luis Castillo, and Luis Chavez held their own but failed to make a big stir.
Enter Pablo Fragoso, who quickly shed his 10-pound allowance by riding five winners in less than two weeks at the main-track meet. Fragoso, 20, rode his first winner, Private Retreat, for trainer Mark Hennig on March 21, the main track's opening day.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jose Santos will turn 42 later this month, but the veteran jockey said he "felt like a little boy" on Friday morning.
That's when Santos climbed aboard Volponi for the first time since last October, when he rode the horse to an upset victory in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Friday, Santos guided Volponi through a five-furlong workout officially timed in 1:01.74 over Belmont Park's training track.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Mark Frostad normally sends out more than his fair share of winners at Fair Grounds every winter. But when 34 starters produced a mere four trips to the winner's circle during this year's four-month meet in New Orleans, Frostad left town with considerably less loot than normal.
Now, en route to his Canadian homeland, Frostad has made his customary stop at Keeneland, where he has 28 horses on the grounds. The Fair Grounds meet "wasn't all that bad," said Frostad, citing 16 seconds and thirds.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - White Cat, ridden by Shane Sellers, edged past Deep Shadow in the final furlong of the Transylvania Stakes Friday to post a head victory, giving owner Ray Cottrell Sr. his first stakes win at Keeneland.
Hypnotist set a fast pace in the $100,000 Transylvania, highlight of the opening program of the 15-day Keeneland spring meet. But turning into the stretch, he was passed by Deep Shadow, who then was challenged and passed in the final yards by White Cat.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Three Southern California-based horses that started in Dubai last weekend will be given brief vacations when they return home this weekend.
Avanzado and Captain Squire, who were second and third in the $2 million Golden Shaheen Sprint, and Lusty Latin, who was eighth in the $1 million Godolphin Mile, will be given breaks, their trainers said.
Avanzado will be pointed for the $300,000 Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on July 5, according to trainer Doug O'Neill said.
RAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park opened Thursday night, and Pat Day won the first race of the meet.
Agrivating General, ridden by Day - who was on hand to sign autographs and ride in several races - survived a prolonged stretch duel with longshot Crook to register a head victory in the $50,000 Premiere Stakes, the track's traditional opener. Day later won with one of his two remaining mounts, One Eyed Joker, in the ninth race.