MIAMI, Fla. - Super Fuse, the top juvenile sprinter on the grounds with three victories in four career starts, is expected to make his next appearance in Aqueduct's $75,000 Huntington Stakes on Nov. 17.
Super Fuse has earned 99 Beyer Speed Figures for two of his three victories, including his last start, an easy 4 1/4-length triumph in the Birdonthewire Stakes here Oct. 12. A son of Lite the Fuse, Super Fuse's only setback came following a poor start in Delaware's NATC Futurity.
PORTLAND, Ore. - On the face of it, trainer Debbie Van Horne's recent trip to Southern California was pretty much a bust. Van Horne took 2-year-old Knightsbridge Road to Santa Anita for the six-furlong Sunny Slope Stakes on Oct. 19, but he was used up chasing the torrid pace of eventual winner Only the Best and virtually eased in the stretch, finishing last.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - From her first start as a 2-year-old in 1997 through the end of the 2000 racing season, Smugglers Cove had won a total of seven races. She could have been claimed for $2,500 in 2000, and last year she started out running in a $3,500 claiming race, which she won.
Quote Me Later, who has speed and the rail, will have to hold off Humble Bob late to win the colts and geldings division of the $25,000 Razorback Futurity at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La., on Sunday.
The six-furlong race is one of two stakes on the program restricted to 2-year-olds bred in Arkansas.
In the $25,000 fillies division of the Razorback Futurity, also over six furlongs, the Cole Norman-trained Impetuous Molly takes on two-time winner Honey Rascal, as well as Wild Liz, a first-time starter who has been working sharply for trainer Howard Rice.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Kiosk heads a field of 10 Ohio-bred-2-year-old fillies, all of whom are in search of their first stakes win, in Sunday's $50,000 John W. Galbreath Memorial Stakes at Beulah Park.
Kiosk enters the Galbreath off a strong second-place finish in the $75,000 Best of Ohio Juvenile Fillies, which was run at Thistledown at Sunday's 1 1/16-mile distance. Kiosk, a daughter of Left Banker, has shown improvement since being stretched out around two turns in September, finishing second twice for trainer Tim Hamm.
STICKNEY, Ill. - They just set meet records for wins; everywhere you looked this summer at Arlington there were Frank Calabrese-owned, Wayne Catalano-trained horses popping up. The question is what to do for an encore.
More of the same, according to Catalano. "No, we're not taking it easy now," Catalano said Friday in the Hawthorne racing office. "My man likes action."
ARCADIA, Calif. - In the early 1990's, the California Cup at Santa Anita was the only destination reserved for statebreds on the annual stakes calender.
These days, things have changed. Over the next 12 months, there will be four major days set aside for statebred competition, providing owners with additional opportunities to run for top money against restricted competition.
On Saturday, the $1.325 million California Cup will be run for the 13th time and features 10 races.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Stoney made racing complicated for owners Stephen and Cyndi Weeks this year.
It used to be that when the Weekses claimed a horse, the only issue was whether to raise it or drop it in claiming price in its next start. Stoney has changed all that. There have been no talk of claiming races for Stoney since he was taken for $20,000 at Hollywood Park on May 31. But deciding which allowance races and stakes to run Stoney in has left the Weekses and trainer Ruben Cardenas with a puzzle.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Northern California horsemen, coming off their most successful year ever in the California Cup, hope to have an equally large say Saturday at Santa Anita in the 13th annual running of the event that showcases California-breds.
Prior to Wednesday's draw, the northern California-based Ninebanks, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, loomed as the likely morning-line favorite for the Mile. Then he drew the 14 post, and Hollendorfer is now wavering on whether to run him.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Call it Cal Cup Light, but Bay Meadows gets into the spirit of Santa Anita's California Cup with a pair of stakes races for California-bred juveniles on Saturday.
Ten fillies entered the Bam's Penny Stakes, while six colts entered the Don B. Stakes. Both races were named for past Cal-bred stars and will be run at six furlongs. Both have $80,000-added purses.