ALBANY, Calif. - Northern California trainers have agreed to continue running at Golden Gate Fields now that dry weather has helped improve the track surface.
Charlie Dougherty, the deputy director of California Thoroughbred Trainers, said trainers met Friday with officials of Magna Entertainment, which operates Golden Gate, as a follow-up to a Tuesday meeting when the option of closing Golden Gate for two weeks and running at Bay Meadows was discussed.
After three unsuccessful route races, Ladyecho returned to what she does best in Saturday's $60,000 Marshua Stakes, a six-furlong sprint at Laurel Park.
Ladyecho ($7), ridden for the first time by Oliver Castillo, made a big middle move to grab the lead in the race for 3-year-old fillies and then withstood a late rally by Powers Prospect to win by 1 1/4 lengths, her first victory in three months.
Jockeys Buck Harris, Sidney LeJeune, Bobby Walker, and apprentice Josh Vaid, who were all involved in a four-horse spill in the sixth race Friday night at Sam Houston Race Park, were treated and released from a nearby hospital the same night.
Harris and LeJeune suffered collarbone injuries, while Vaid injured an elbow. The three were not expected to ride Saturday night. Walker, who may or may not ride, complained of soreness in his back and rib cage after the spill.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Keeping in step with a day of surprises, First Blush upset Friday's $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes on opening day of the 2003 Gulfstream Park meet. First Blush, a homebred French Deputy colt owned by Irving and Marjorie Cowan, returned $25.80 after finishing six furlongs in 1:10.97 over a fast track.
NEW ORLEANS - Lakenheath, the obvious favorite Friday in the $75,000 Truly Bound Handicap at Fair Grounds, got a perfect stalking trip behind two speed horses and scored a half-length win over the 11-1 shot Bala. A 3-5 favorite, Lakenheath paid $3.20 to win, running 1 1/16 miles on fast dirt in 1:45.48.
SEATTLE - A group representing eastern Washington horsemen, the Organization for the Preservation of Northwest Racing, and Eric Nelson, who has been licensed to operate Playfair, have reached a purse agreement that should clear the way for Playfair to begin conducting simulcast wagering in the near future.
Jay Healy, president of the horsemen's group, said he signed a contract on Thursday that calls for minimum purses of $2,500. Healy said the contract also gives horsemen one-third of all breakage and that his group will be paid $5,000 per month to administer the purse account.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - For all the major turf stakes he has won in Florida, trainer Christophe Clement has never had a winner of the Honey Fox Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
Clement came closest four years ago when Lover's Knot was beaten just a neck by Colcon in the Honey Fox, which was then known as the Joe Namath Handicap.
Sunday, assuming the Grade 3 race stays on grass, Clement could very well get off his Honey Fox schneid when he sends out a pair of British-bred 5-year-old mares, Amonita and Calista, in the 1 1/16-mile, $100,000 race.
NEW ORLEANS - Green Fee beat nine of the best turf milers in the world in his last race, but on Sunday at Fair Grounds he will have less tangible hurdles to overcome. Green Fee will be favored to win the Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap, but he has drawn the outside post in an 11-horse field and will be asked to carry 120 pounds in the 1 1/16-mile race, which is perhaps slightly farther than his best distance.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Summer Wind Dancer stands out against six rivals Sunday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes, the first two-turn stakes of the year for 3-year-old fillies. A troubled third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet after winning the California Cup Juvenile Fillies, Summer Wind Dancer is the only Santa Ysabel entrant without a flaw.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If she runs, Cyber Secret is the one to beat of the seven 3-year-old fillies entered in a weak edition of the $75,000-added Ruthless at Aqueduct on Sunday.
Cyber Secret's trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., said Cyber Secret only will run in the six-furlong Ruthless if the track is fast. For Friday's card, the inner track was sloppy, with additional mixed precipitation in the forecast for Friday evening and Saturday.
"I'll run if it's a fast, dry, and safe track," said Dutrow, who trains Cyber Secret for Sanford Goldfarb and Team Julep Stable.