Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

'Be Still' faces five in sprint

PORTLAND, Ore. - Be Still My Heart will attempt to get back on the winning track when she shoots for her third score in her last four starts in Friday's best race at Portland Meadows, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old Oregon-bred fillies eligible to be claimed for $8,000.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

He won't be 48-1 again

You would have needed the hindsight of the pick-six schemers to have had Thunderello on your ticket in last month's Breeders' Cup Sprint. Or, just the confidence of trainer Scott Lake.

Thunderello, a 48-1 shot, nearly pulled off the biggest upset in Sprint history when he outfooted some of the fastest horses in the world, only to be caught in deep stretch by favored Orientate, who won the $1 million Sprint by a half-length.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Million Day draws only 56

MIAMI - If the horsemen's response was any indication, Saturday's first annual Florida Million Day may be the last.

Only 56 horses were entered Wednesday for the six stakes on the inaugural Florida Million program, including only six runners in the main event, the $200,000 Carl G. Rose Classic.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Keeneland average rises

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland's 10-day November breeding stock sale ended Wednesday with financial gains across the board.

Despite selling almost 200 fewer horses, this year's auction grossed 4 percent more than last year as 2,377 lots brought $187,230,000. The average price rose 10 percent, from last year's figure of $71,655 to $78,767, and the median price shot up by 40 percent, from $20,000 last year to $28,000 in 2002.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Biancone 3-year-olds ready to roll

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After spending summer and fall in the east, trainer Patrick Biancone has returned to Santa Anita for the upcoming winter-spring meet, and he figures to be a major player in the key races. All but two of Biancone's 18 runners turn 3 on Jan. 1, and will compete in Santa Anita's glamour division: 3-year-olds.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Grass no longer off limits

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park is rapidly making up for lost opportunity. The main draw of the autumn meet is turf racing, but unseasonably wet weather pushed most of the scheduled turf racing opening week onto the main track. Only three of the first 49 races were run on turf.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Red Power continues comeback

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer John Buc has a special place in his heart for Red Power, who makes his second start Friday at Golden Gate Fields since having what Buc called "a little chip" removed from his knee in February.

Red Power will meet six rivals in a six-furlong $40,000 starter allowance race Friday. Among them is Michael's Wolf, who finished second ahead of Red Power in his comeback race.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Uriah has a familiar look about her

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Owner Gary Tanaka and trainer Harro Remmert hope for history to repeat itself Saturday when they send out Uriah, a 3-year-old German-bred filly, in the Grade 2, $150,000 Long Island Handicap at Aqueduct.

In 2000, Tanaka and Remmert captured the Long Island with Moonlady, another 3-year-old German-bred filly, who won at odds of 12-1 when the race was rained off the turf and run over a muddy main track.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Plenty of back class

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Stakes-placed Mark One heads Friday's Woodbine feature, a $74,400 nonwinners-of-two-other-than allowance.

Mark One, a strapping gray gelding by Alphabet Soup, took a few races to get his act together. He won his maiden by six lengths in his sixth start on July 19, and then captured an Aug 17 preliminary allowance.

Wed, 11/13/2002 - 00:00

Short fields plague overnight stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Sunny's Halo, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-olds on Sunday, is the last of 10 new overnight stakes for Canadian-breds here this year.

The races in the overnight stakes program, which also included 12 open stakes - some new, some existing - were not guaranteed to go and required a minimum of five entrants to be carded. All offered purses of $100,000 added.

But many of the overnight stakes, including most of the Canadian-bred races, attracted short fields.