ANDERSON, Ind. - The one-two finishers from last year's Brickyard Stakes, Fight for Ally and Red's Honor, head a field of 12 older statebred males in Sunday's renewal of the $40,000, six-furlong stakes.
Last year, Red's Honor defeated Fight for Ally by 2 3/4 lengths.
Red's Honor last raced at Belmont on Sept. 20, when he was a tiring sixth against money-won allowance company. Trained by Dale Romans, Red's Honor had been idle between April and that race.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Since they named the race after her sister, it may be worth taking a look at Ioya Forever in Arlington's Sunday feature. The thing is, you will only get to see her if the race is rained off turf and onto dirt.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Full Scream Ahead, who missed by a nose in the Grade 2 Ballerina Breeders' Cup on Oct. 6, figures to be a short price when she faces six other fillies and mares in Saturday's open allowance race at Hastings Park. The 1 1/16-mile feature carries a $25,300 purse and goes as the ninth race.
Full Scream Ahead, who is trained by Terry Marshall and owned by Aurora Stables, has been sharp since the middle of July. In her last five starts she has won three stakes and finished second in two others.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Saturday is getaway day at Northlands, as the 68-day meet comes to a close. That makes it an appropriate time to reflect on the high spots of the season and on who will win Alberta's divisional titles.
Some categories would appear to be automatic, such as Sixthirtyjoe as champion older horse on the strength of his five stakes victories at distances from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. Sixthirtyjoe won the Sprint Championship and the Teeworth Plate at Stampede and the Journal, Spangled Jimmy, and Klondike here.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Jim Chapman is convinced that Red Apache is happiest when he finds himself in a battle.
"He loves to fight and he loves having horses around him," Chapman said. "He doesn't work unless he's with other horses."
The style worked in a six-furlong allowance race on Oct. 2, which Red Apache won by a head after dueling for the lead throughout. It will be put to a full test when he starts against nine others in Saturday's $75,000 Sunny Slope Stakes for 2-year-olds over six furlongs at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The California Horse Racing Board ratified a racing calendar for 2003 at a monthly meeting on Thursday, making only minor revisions from the 2002 schedule.
The racing calender in California begins the day after Christmas with the start of the winter-spring meetings at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields. Thursday, dates were issued up to Christmastime 2003.
"It's essentially the same calender as last year," said CHRB spokesman Mike Marten.
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Racing Commission and Magna Entertainment, which operates Remington Park, reached a compromise agreement Thursday on what dates the track will race in 2003. Magna and the commission had been at odds over the 2003 schedule at the track since Magna had asked to drop its Quarter Horse meet last month.
The racing world is changing for the Miller family of Cochranville, Pa.
Of course, patriarch Bruce Miller remains a steeplechase trainer, but his son Chip has assumed the role of trainer as well as jockey.
Daughter Blythe faces an uncertain racing future. She suffered a concussion in a spill at Saratoga and may not ride in races again. Plus, she recently became engaged.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - With a chilly west wind blowing down an occasional flake of snow Thursday morning, Arlington Park moved into the final stage of its Breeders' Cup odyssey. While there were only a couple of major works, the number of Breeders' Cup horses on the grounds is increasing daily, and several were out on the racetrack for the first time Thursday.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - American Justice hasn't won a race this year, but he shouldn't be taken lightly when he runs in the $100,000 Premier's Stakes at Hastings on Sunday.
He's perfectly suited for the 11-furlong distance and the last time he ran in the Premier's he won as the 7-2 favorite in 2000. He also finished a fast-closing second in the Premier's as a 3-year-old in 1999.