HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - If racing secretary Dave Bailey's weight assignments are any indication, Friday's $75,000 Banshee Breeze Handicap at Gulfstream Park should be no contest.
Nonsuch Bay, a Grade 1 and Grade 2 winner last year, will carry high weight of 118 pounds in the 1 1/16-mile Banshee Breeze. Her nine rivals are carrying either 112 or 113 pounds.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Ivanavinalot has been conspicuous by her absence from the workout tab since her 1 3/4-length victory over My Boston Gal in the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss Stakes March 14. But trainer Kathleen O'Connell says the lack of a serious workout during the past 2 1/2 weeks was not out of necessity but by design as she prepares Ivanavinalot for her stiffest assignment, Saturday's $500,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher returned to North America shortly after the running of last Saturday's Dubai World Cup, but his horse, Harlan's Holiday, was to remain at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse until this Saturday.
It's all part of the recovery process that Pletcher hopes will have Harlan's Holiday well prepared for a strong summer and fall campaign following his second-place finish in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - What Friday's featured ninth race lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. The $38,000, one-mile allowance for older horses attracted a field of only five, but all are stakes veterans.
Unrullah Bull, winner of the Grade 3 Texas Mile at last year's meet, could be a slight favorite despite not having run in over six months. The Texas Mile was Unrullah Bull's only win in 11 starts last year, though several of his subsequent losses were in sprints or on turf. Unrullah Bull has won four times at Lone Star, more than any of his rivals.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Trainer Gary Capuano has been to the Kentucky Derby before, but he's not sure he's ready to go back.
Capuano saddled the Kentucky Derby favorite in 1997, Captain Bodgit, who finished second to Silver Charm. Capuano has another good 3-year-old this year, Cherokee's Boy, but he hasn't booked passage yet to Louisville.
Cherokee's Boy has made more starts and won more races - five - than any of the nine horses he will meet Saturday in the $500,000 Illinois Derby, but he hasn't demonstrated the quality of a horse like Captain Bodgit.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - This is a weekend of comebacks for trainer Laura de Seroux.
She has Horse of the Year Azeri set for her 2003 debut in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on Saturday. On Sunday, Ballingarry makes his 2003 debut in the Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - It took barely one second for Jose Arriaga's life to change forever on April 4, 2002.
Arriaga, 25, had just finished second in the Golden Gate Fields jockey standings. It was only the second day of the Bay Meadows meeting as he rode Mother Fear, an $8,000 claimer, in the fifth race. He was sitting in good position on the far turn when his mount unexpectedly propped and ducked out, tossing him to the track.
The Carl Draper-trained Hidden Dragon seeks his third consecutive win in the Grade 1, $268,357 New Mexican Spring Futurity at 300 yards for New Mexico-breds quarter horses on Saturday afternoon at Sunland Park.
Hidden Dragon started his career with a 2 1/2-length victory at Sunland Park in a 300-yard maiden race on March 1. He came back and won his 300-yard Spring Futurity trial by 1 1/2 lengths in 15.170 seconds, the fastest time from 11 trials held on March 18.
Miami Cartel looks for his first win since Nov. 1, when he won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Derby, in the Grade 3, $25,000 Kaweah Bar Handicap at 350 yards on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.
Since winning the Los Alamitos Derby by a nose over Paul Jones-trained stablemate Agouti, Miami Cartel has finished fifth in the Grade 1 Champion of Champions, his first start against older horses, and fourth behind co-world champion Whosleavingwho in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Championship.