ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Barbeau Ruckus parlayed a perfect trip into an easy victory under Constant Montpellier in Saturday's $128,625 Sir Barton Stakes at Woodbine.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Trainer Steve Asmussen continued his dominance at Sunland Park Friday afternoon, winning the six-furlong, $50,000-added Princess S. with Valid Pulpit. After bumping at the start with Manzotti Queen, jockey Garrett Gomez elected to take his mount back and settle, then mounted a five-wide rally on the turn. Valid Pulpit caught front-runner Miss Trixie in midstretch and dueled her to the finish, winning by a nose in the end.
MIAMI - Hear No Evil, who finished second to Supah Blitz in the Price Juvenile Stakes on Nov. 16, is expected to represent Florida in the $225,000 Great State Juvenile at Sam Houston Park on Dec. 7. The Great State Juvenile is one of six stakes on the inaugural Great State Challenge program.
Hear No Evil's trainer, Jim Hatchett, will also be busy here this coming weekend when he sends out Crimson and Roses in the $100,000 Hollywood Wildcat Stakes, and either Roll em Again or The Man in the $100,000 Mecke Stakes. Both 2-year-old races are carded at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The feature race Tuesday at Churchill Downs would be difficult to handicap if just one of the favorites were returning from a lengthy layoff.
But both Dream Run and Keats, a pair of graded stakes-winning 4-year-olds, have been away for extensive periods, making race 8 a particularly tough exercise for horseplayers.
Dream Run, winner of the Gulfstream Sprint Championship in February for owner Jack Murphy, is unraced since running poorly in the Moseley Handicap on the Massachusetts Handicap undercard last summer.
LAUREL, Md. - Sitting in the living room of his parents' suburban Washington, D.C., home recently, Ryan Fogelsonger popped into the VCR a tape of a winning race he rode in May.
"I seriously sat there and laughed at myself and couldn't believe it was me," Fogelsonger, 21, recalled during a recent interview in the Laurel Park track kitchen. "I can't believe I looked that bad - not that I look that good right now - but I was like 'Oh, man, I'm not watching any more old tapes right now.'"
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Some of the 2-year-old fillies in the $100,000-added Valley Stream at Aqueduct might have distance limitations down the road, but that doesn't mean the nine entered in Sunday's six-furlong race are not without talent.
Among the runners in the Grade 3 Valley Stream are Midnight Cry, third in the Grade 1 Spinaway, and Fast Cookie, the runner-up in the Grade 2 Astarita. Throw in runaway maiden winner Randaroo and the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie second-place finisher Parting, and you've got yourself a horse race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - After detecting a speed-favoring track, Todd Kabel decided to take the bull by the horns when he rode Santerra on Oct. 30 in the South Ocean Stakes.
Kabel sent Santerra, normally a stalker, directly to the front in the 1 1/16-mile race, and Santerra was never seriously threatened en route to an easy victory.
Kabel will be back aboard Santerra on Sunday at Woodbine, when she shoots for her third stakes triumph in the $160,200 Ontario Lassie Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Super High has the California-bred distaff division at her mercy. Six California-bred fillies and mares entered the $100,000 Cat's Cradle Handicap on Sunday at Hollywood Park, a 7 1/2-furlong race in which Super High attempts to extend her dominance.
A 3-year-old filly trained by Carla Gaines, Super High has won 6 of 12 starts. Her only recent loss was against Cal-breds in the $200,000 Melair Stakes on April 28 at Hollywood. She has since won four stakes worth $100,000 or more and enters the Cat's Cradle off an easy win in the $150,000 California Cup Matron.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The mix of horses entered in Hastings Park's featured race Sunday - an $11,000 optional race going 1 1/16 miles - presents handicappers with an interesting puzzle.
Starring Maudlin and Daring Dennis are both coming off strong efforts, but it's hard to say how they'll stack up against some horses in the race who are dropping in class following dull efforts.
Eleven horses have been entered, and the race will go as the last on an eight-race card.