PORTLAND, Ore. - Tiffa, the winner of last year's Oregon Hers Stakes at a mile, returns to Portland Meadows on Sunday, heading a field of seven in the 1 1/16-mile feature for fillies and mares.
Tiffa, from the barn of Mike Totland, followed her stakes win here with a four-race campaign at Turf Paradise that resulted in a pair of seconds against $12,500 and $10,500 claimers, then raced twice without success at Emerald Downs in July before going to the sidelines for a well-deserved vacation.
ALBANY, Calif. - Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Golden Gate Fields, has sold 16 acres of land south of the track's barn area to the East Bay Regional Park District.
The land, located in the city of Berkeley, is on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay.
Magna sold the land for $8.5 million, although it had been appraised at $12 million. Magna has also agreed to pay up to $100,000 for a toxic waste assessment and cleanup.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In the last five years, the Hollywood Futurity has been a springboard to brilliance for three of Bob Baffert's top 2-year-olds.
Real Quiet, the 1997 Futurity winner, used the race as a springboard to a Kentucky Derby win in 1998.
In 1999, Captain Steve won the Hollywood Futurity. He later won the Dubai World Cup.
In 2000, Point Given went from the winner's circle of the Hollywood Futurity to a campaign that ended with the 2001 Horse of the Year title.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Garrett Gomez surprised a lot of people when he announced his intention to skip Hollywood Park's fall meet and ride at Sunland Park instead. But to Gomez, the decision made perfect sense.
Gomez's father, Louie, had ridden at Sunland in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and Garrett had spent a good deal of his youth on Sunland's backstretch.
ALBANY, Calif. - The highest-priced claiming race of the year headlines Sunday's Golden Gate Fields card when six fillies and mares run in a $100,000 optional claimer at one mile.
Aunt Sophie, one of two in the field not running for a tag, will be looking for her first victory since she won a $50,000 optional claimer on the turf at Bay Meadows on Sept. 19 in her first race for trainer Jeff Bonde.
Owned, bred, and trained in Washington by Charles J. Barth, Aunt Sophie was sent south to run for Bonde after the Emerald Downs meeting.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - There is no doubt that Sign of Lanty has been one of the top 870-yard runners in Quarter Horse racing history. In 2000 and 2001, he was named Quarter Horse Distance Champion. Most of his $455,542 bankroll was earned at 870 yards.
Now, the 8-year-old Sign of Lanty has a chance to earn a purse worthy of his reputation.
Sunday, Sign of Lanty starts in the $200,000 Marathon National at Los Alamitos, the richest 870-yard race in Quarter Horse history.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Mike Smith will not soon forget Composure's loss in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Arlington Park in October.
Smith guided Composure to the lead past the heavily favored Storm Flag Flying in midstretch only to see that rival launch a remarkable rally in the final furlong to deny Composure victory by a half-length.
The rematch may not occur until the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in May, and until then all Smith can do is help Composure prepare for her 3-year-old campaign.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Piensa Sonando, one of trainer Ron McAnally's recent acquisitions from South America, may be arriving in the California handicap division at an ideal time.
With no clear-cut leader in the older horse division, Piensa Sonando is in a field with little depth in Saturday's $100,000, 1 1/8-mile Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park.
A victory would propel Piensa Sonando into the preps for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 1, although McAnally hesitates to think that far ahead.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Fans of Xtra Heat breathed a sigh of relief when she was bought by S. David Plummer's ClassicStar and he decided to keep her in training instead of sending her to the breeding shed.
On Saturday at Aqueduct, Xtra Heat will be in action for the first time since the sale in the $75,000-added Garland of Roses Handicap. The last time Xtra Heat ran at Aqueduct, she won the Interborough by 5 1/2 lengths on Jan. 1. She is 3 for 3 over the inner track.
Walk in the Snow and Oak Hall meet on Saturday in round two of a blossoming Louisiana rivalry. Oak Hall is twice Walk in the Snow's age, but in their first meeting last month at Delta Downs, the 3-year-old Walk in the Snow was the better horse, beating Oak Hall by more than three lengths.
"We've got some ground to make up," said Keith Bourgeois, Oak Hall's trainer.