HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Carl Nafzger has a pleasant problem on his hands: deciding which of his talented 3-year-old fillies, My Boston Gal or Westerly Breeze, to run in next Sunday's Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes.
The Davona Dale is one of two stakes for 3-year-old fillies on that program, along with the $50,000 Charon Stakes, an overnight race at seven furlongs. The 1 1/16-mile Davona Dale is a prep for the $250,000 Bonnie Miss Stakes on March 14.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr., who was released from prison on Thursday, said that he hopes to begin riding races at Aqueduct within the next two weeks.
On Friday, Arroyo met with the Aqueduct stewards. The stewards said Arroyo must follow proper procedures, including filling out paperwork, standard for someone that has been convicted of a crime, before being cleared to return to competition.
It is not anticipated that the New York State Racing and Wagering Board will take any action against the rider in regard to his license.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Victor Cuadra said he felt a weight lifted when the 9-year-old Say Florida Sandy finished second Jan. 25 in the Paumonok Handicap and surpassed $2 million in earnings.
With that milestone behind him, Say Florida Sandy has another hurdle in front of him as he attempts to win his first stakes since September 2001 in Sunday's $75,000-added Hollie Hughes Handicap at Aqueduct.
Say Florida Sandy, the 2001 Hollie Hughes winner, is the likely favorite over six other older males entered in the six-furlong race for New York-breds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bob Holthus, who has won two of the last three runnings of the $75,000 Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds, plans to start two promising colts in the one-mile race when it is run at Oaklawn Park on March 1.
The race is the first in a three-stakes series that culminates with the Grade 2, $500,000 Arkansas Derby on April 12.
Holthus plans to start Alke, who most recently finished second to Champali in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, and Premier Rocket, who won an entry-level allowance race on Wednesday.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Meadows got a new lease on life late last week when Magna Entertainment Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary MEC Oregon Racing Inc., reached an agreement to purchase the long-term operating rights for the track.
MEC Oregon Racing Inc. is in the second year of operating Portland Meadows under a sublease arrangement that was to have run out after three or four years, and it now has the right to operate the track indefinitely.
NEW ORLEANS - Shane Sellers has a live mount in the Risen Star Stakes, although by late Sunday afternoon Sellers may not know quite where he is.
Sellers rides Golden Marlin here Saturday in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes, then will hop a plane to Sam Houston Race Course to ride in the $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Handicap, where he will be on Freefourinternet for trainer Chuck Simon. Robby Albarado and Calvin Borel are in the same boat as Sellers, with mounts in both Fair Grounds weekend stakes and in the Connally.
NEW ORLEANS - Ronny Werner, former Quarter Horse trainer and Texan for life, worked outside his barn, grilling fajitas for his crew late Thursday morning. He took a break to present a smallish bay colt stabled directly across the shed row from his office.
"The secret is to see who the trainer keeps in the closest stall," Werner said. "That's usually the good one."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Canadian International and the E.P. Taylor Stakes, which have been positioned in late September as Breeders' Cup preps for the past two years, have been moved back on the Woodbine stakes calendar and will be run this year on Oct. 19.
The repositioning of the $1.5 million Canadian International, a 1 1/2-mile race for 3-year-olds and up, and the $750,000 E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares, are the most significant changes on the stakes schedule for the 167-day meet which begins March 22.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Gary Stevens switches roles this weekend, from playing a jockey in the upcoming Seabiscuit movie to the real thing, attempting to add to his already illustrious Hall of Fame career.
Stevens is booked on five mounts on Sunday at Santa Anita, his first mounts since the Breeders' Cup last October at Arlington Park. In the last few months, Stevens has been busy working as an actor, playing the role of George Woolf in the Seabiscuit movie based on the popular book.
Less than two lengths separated the first five horses across the wire in last month's Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel Park.
Get ready for a possible rerun. All five are back to run 1 1/8 miles again in Saturday's $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap.
The popular Maryland veteran P Day, still going strong at age 8, was all out to win the Native Dancer by a head. It was his 11th victory in 27 career starts at Laurel.