NEW ORLEANS - A minor illness has forced the California invader Redattore out of Sunday's Explosive Bid Handicap. Redattore, who flew here Wednesday, won the Grade 2 Frank Kilroe Mile in his last start and would have been one of the two favorites in the Explosive Bid, but trainer Richard Mandella elected not even to enter Redattore after he showed signs of illness.
"He spiked a little fever," Mandella said. "It could just be a little shipping fever, but we can't take a chance."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Smok'n Frolic was no match for Allamerican Bertie when the two met in the Grade 2 Rampart Handicap at Gulfstream Park on March 1. The good news for Smok'n Frolic is that there are no Allamerican Berties in Sunday's $100,000-added Next Move Handicap at Aqueduct.
Smok'n Frolic, the 120-pound highweight, will be a deserving favorite over six other fillies and mares in the 1 1/8-mile Next Move.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Offlee Wild, forced to skip the Florida Derby because of a bacterial infection, worked five furlongs in 1:01 at Gulfstream Park on Friday and remains on target for his next start, Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes on April 12.
Offlee Wild worked shortly before 9 a.m. with jockey Mark Guidry in the irons and was never under pressure, although he did drift a bit coming off the turn and through the stretch, finishing up well off the inside rail.
The slots-rich Delta Downs in Vinton, La., has saved the best for last. The track will close out its Thoroughbred meet Sunday night with the $150,000 Gulf Coast Handicap, and the 1 1/16-mile race, which is the track's richest open-company stakes for older horses, drew a competitive field of 10.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Edgar Prado, a jockey who deflects attention from himself and onto the horses he partners, will be forced into the spotlight at Santa Anita Sunday.
Prado, the accomplished East Coast rider, is traveling from his winter base in Florida to be honored by his fellow jockeys with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, to be presented between races.
The award is given annually by jockeys, honoring one of their own for success and for character.
"It was exciting to be chosen by my peers," Prado said.
ALBANY, Calif. - For jockey Roberto Gonzalez, it was love at first sight.
"I've liked her since the first time I saw her on the track," he said. "I went to [trainer] Larry Ross and said she had a beautiful way of going. I told him, 'If you don't have a rider, call me.'
"The next time on the track, she galloped beside me. I didn't know anything about her. I just loved the way she went on the track."
The object of Gonzalez's affection is Chilean-bred Ema Bovary, who makes her second U.S. start in Sunday's $60,000-added Soviet Problem Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Gary Contessa said he has had his fill of chasing open-company horses with New York-bred Grey Comet and will point him to a series of restricted races.
Grey Comet, runner-up in last weekend's Gotham - beaten 4 1/4 lengths by Alysweep - will run next in the $150,000 Times Square, a division of the New York Stallion Stakes, on April 27 at Aqueduct.
After watching Second in Command splash his way to an 8 3/4-length victory in last month's Best Turn Stakes in New York, trainer Linda Rice suggested that the $200,000, one-mile Gotham might be a good spot for his next start.
Instead of stretching out, Second in Command will stick to sprinting when he runs in Sunday's $60,000 Horatius Stakes, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Laurel Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Two allowance races for fillies and mares on Friday at Santa Anita produced upsets.
In the third race, Medinaceli ($101.60) prevailed in a one-mile turf race that ended with four fillies within a neck at the finish. Medinaceli was sixth on the final turn and rallied between rivals to reach the front. She outfinished Janeian, View from the Top and Alozaina, the 1-2 favorite, who was placed in graded stakes last year.
Medinaceli, ridden by Matt Garcia, ran a mile on turf in 1:35.28.