Testify, a proven turf sprinter, and Rahy's Secret, a two-turn stakes winner who won going short on grass in his last start, will meet for the first time Saturday night in the $50,000 Sam Houston Turf Sprint, one of five undercard stakes on a program topped by the $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Turf.
The five-furlong Turf Sprint also drew Proven Cure, who won the local prep for the race for trainer John Locke.
NEW ORLEANS - Take Charge Lady blew into town from Florida a year ago and won the Silverbulletday Stakes by more than eight lengths, equaling the track record for 1 1/16 miles. This year's race hardly could be more different. Bumped up to Grade 2 status, the $150,000 Silverbulletday drew a field of eight 3-year-old fillies just trying to fit into the division, not dominate it.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The last time The Tin Man tried 1 1/2 miles it was before an international audience in the nation's richest turf race, the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf last October at Arlington Park.
The Tin Man will face a much easier job in Saturday's $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap at Santa Anita.
With the benefit of a recent prep race - a close second in the San Marcos Stakes on Jan. 20 - The Tin Man will be a strong favorite in the San Luis Obispo, which has drawn seven entrants.
Five other fillies and mares are entered, including multiple graded-stakes winner Zonk. But Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park really boils down to a match race between Xtra Heat and Carson Hollow.
The 5-year-old Xtra Heat, the 125-pound highweight who has won 24 stakes races in her career, and Carson Hollow, a two-time graded stakes winner as a 3-year-old last year, share the same front-running style.
The draw slightly favors Carson Hollow, who will break from post 4, two slots outside of Xtra Heat and carry 119 pounds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - See How She Runs, who went from first-time starter to Grade 2 winner during the course of the Oaklawn Park meet last season, will make her 4-year-old debut Saturday in the $50,000 Pippin Stakes.
The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares has drawn seven others, including defending champ Red n'Gold, and Eagle Lake, who is looking for her sixth consecutive win for leading trainer Cole Norman.
NEW ORLEANS - Todd Pletcher had a string of horses at Fair Grounds last season. This year, he's a one-stall operation. Balto Star flew here from Pletcher's base in Florida and easily won the Whirlaway Handicap last Sunday. Balto Star vacated his lodging Wednesday morning and flew back to Florida, replaced a few hours later by Indy Dancer, who is in town for the Risen Star Stakes on Sunday.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Leaping Plum's streak of seven consecutive wins in the Grasmick Handicap at Fonner Park came to an end last year but the old boy still has plenty of fire left at age 12.
Leaping Plum returns to the races under his lightest Grasmick impost since 1995 - 120 pounds - as he seeking to improve upon his third-place finish of a year ago. This will be his ninth consecutive start in the $10,000-added stakes. With Newil Wall aboard, Leaping Plum will face five others in the half-mile sprint.
OLDSMAR Fla. - Take your pick from speed horses, late closers, reformed claimers, and stakes winners on the dirt attempting to revive their careers on turf. Horseplayers can find plenty of angles Saturday when Burning Roma, winner of the Meadowlands Cup and a millionaire, tops a field of 12 in the $100,000 Tampa Bay Downs Breeders' Cup Stakes.
While Burning Roma, the co-highweight at 123 pounds under leading rider Jesus Castanon, will earn a good deal of support at the windows, there are several other intriguing entrants in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - After a fall meeting with no stakes victories, the highest powered barn in New England, Yasou Stable Trust, is ready to wheel out its top horses, starting Saturday with two fillies in the $35,000 Yankee Fashion Stakes at Suffolk Downs.
Since Suffolk reopened in 1992, Yasou Stable, the family business of trainer Charlie Assimakopolous and his son, John, has been the leading owner for seven of the 11 years on the strength of numerous regional champions.
Green Fee, who is the class of Saturday night's $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Turf at Sam Houston Race Park, and Candid Glen, who has won the last two runnings, will both be dependent on pace to win the 1 1/8-mile turf race, which drew a full field of 12.
It appears they should get the pace they need. Several in the field are capable of helping set a fast pace, including Runaway Choice, a former sprinter; Rasby, who is coming out of a one-mile race; and Dynameaux and Even the Score, who both have natural speed.