No Its Not, who is undefeated at Delta Downs, will have to hold off the closing kick of new rival Seainsky to win Saturday night's $50,000 Delta Mile at the Vinton, La., track.
Seainsky rallied for second last out in the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston on Jan. 18, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Valhol. Before that race, Seainsky just missed in the $100,000 Woodchopper Handicap on turf at Fair Grounds.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - With Vindication out of the picture and both Sky Mesa and Toccet still weeks away from their 2003 debuts, the 3-year-old division can certainly use an infusion of fresh blood to stir up a little excitement on the road to this year's Kentucky Derby.
Saturday's $200,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park is the proper setting for one or more potential Derby horses to step forward. A field of nine promising 3-year-olds will square off at 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 1 race, which serves as the prep for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 15.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In addition to Whywhywhy, who will run in Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes, trainer Patrick Biancone brought three other runners to Florida from California, and he will have a fifth horse join them in the next two weeks. All are 3-year-olds.
Most prominent among Biancone's supporting cast will be Stellar, a filly who had a productive summer at Saratoga last year. She won her debut, was second in the Adirondack Stakes, and fourth in the Spinaway Stakes.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mr. Pleasentfar, winless since taking the 2001 Red Smith Handicap, rallied seven wide down the center of the Gulfstream Park turf course to nail front-running Wertz by a neck in Thursday's featured $42,000 optional claiming race.
Mr. Pleasentfar, who was coming out of poor efforts in a pair of graded stakes at Calder and Gulfstream, was sent off at 28-1, the longest shot in the eight-horse field. He had been 0 for 6 since winning the Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct in November 2001.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As of 6:15 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, the mutuel field was the 4-5 favorite in early betting on Pool 1 of the 2003 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
Having opened at noon, the win-only future wager had attracted $39,053 in handle during its first six-plus hours.
The four-day wager is scheduled to continue through Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. It is available in 34 states and through the Television Games Network online wagering service
ARCADIA, Calif. - Three straight mornings of wet weather from Tuesday through Thursday had Southern California trainers remembering the good old days of last month when a normally wet January came and went without a drop of rain.
Because of the conditions, training was restricted during the middle of the week. Only the outside of the main track was open, for joggers, with the inside sealed to protect it for afternoon racing. The Santa Anita training track was open, but there were few workouts over that surface.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It is understandable if bettors are reluctant to forgive Humorous Lady for her two losses at the Santa Anita meeting.
The winner of the Grade 2 Astarita Stakes at Belmont Park last October, Humorous Lady was sixth in the California Breeders' Champion Stakes on Dec. 27 and third in the Sunshine Millions Oaks on Jan. 25. In the Breeders' Champion and Millions Oaks, both seven-furlong races, she led early before fading through the stretch.
