HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - She needed arthroscopic surgery to take a chip out of her right front ankle, and since returning, she has won two straight races. She is in the best form of her career.
Trained by Paul McGee, And Thats My Story, is coming off the fastest win of her career. She seeks her third consecutive victory when she faces seven rivals, including an entry trained by Mark Shuman, in Thursday's featured ninth race at Gulfstream Park.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mark Hennig reached into his briefcase and pulled out a folder containing photos of a hoof missing part of the shelly wall. Underneath was a raw mess. The flesh was exposed.
This was Gygistar's right front foot on the eve of the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
"It was down to the bone nearly," Hennig said Tuesday morning at Gulfstream Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - It may not be enough to assess current form when trying to come up with the winner of the featured eighth race Thursday at Oaklawn Park.
One should take a long look at company lines, with the leading contenders in the six-furlong conditioned allowance for fillies and mares - Cherylville Slew, Steaming Home, and Freddie's Folly - each exiting races that have produced some interesting return winners.
Few people enjoy wintering in New Orleans more than Gene Cilio, the veteran Chicago trainer who relishes the mild climate and world-famous cuisine of the Big Easy.
But what makes the winter all that more enjoyable for Cilio is winning races at Fair Grounds, where he annually brings a string of capable horses. Alas, this has been a so-so Fair Grounds meet for Cilio, who has just four wins from his first 34 starters. But things could get better in a hurry Thursday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 5-year-old mare Southern Oasis and the 6-year-old gelding Devil's Horn entered separate races Thursday at Santa Anita, but they will employ similar strategies in the two best races on the card. In both races, the horse to beat is the horse to catch.
ARCADIA, Calif. - All systems are on go for the 3-year-old debut of Empire Maker, who was one of the most talked-about members of his crop before he ever raced. Bobby Frankel trains Empire Maker, the likely favorite Friday at Santa Anita in the $75,000 Sham Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. Six are expected for the Sham, in which Empire Maker will start for the first time since a troubled third-place finish Nov. 30 in the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Christophe Clement's first trip down the Triple Crown trail has been delayed.
Clement, known primarily as a trainer of turf runners, had planned to run the promising 3-year-old Region of Merit, owned by Calumet Farm, in Saturday's Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct. But Clement was not satisfied with Region of Merit's Tuesday workout at Payson Park and canceled plans to ship the colt to New York.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Bill Delia has no illusions about Rio's Chase, who will meet five rivals in Thursday's feature race at Golden Gate Fields.
"He's just a cut under the real good horses," Delia said.
That's a double-edged sword for Delia, who turned Rio's Chase into a stakes winner last summer.
"That's a problem - to get a spot where he can get his confidence back," Delia said.
Mountaineer Race Track in West Virginia agreed on Tuesday morning to allow racing to resume, one day after canceling racing indefinitely to protest a horsemen's lawsuit over the track's simulcast signal.
Chuck Bailey, the president of the Mountaineer Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said that trainers and riders agreed to participate in Tuesday night's card after a meeting with Mountaineer's racing office. Bailey said the racing office assured horsemen and jockeys that the racing surface would be safe, which had not been the case Sunday and Monday.
AUBURN, Wash. - The inaugural Washington Cup Day on Sept. 21 highlights the stakes schedule at Emerald Downs for its eighth summer meeting, a 92-day meet from April 19 through Sept. 22.
Washington Cup Day includes eight stakes, seven of them for Washington-breds, with a combined value of $400,000. The lone race not restricted to Washington-breds is the $100,000 Gottstein Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, the track's traditional championship race for 2-year-olds.