Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Arlington scraps tent seats

CHICAGO - Plans for a section of temporary seating at Arlington Park for the Oct. 26 World Thoroughbred Championships have been scrapped because of slow ticket sales, Breeders' Cup and Arlington Park announced Wednesday.

Trackside Village, a large tent located at the end of the backstretch in front of Arlington's Trackside OTB, no longer will be built, and holders of the approximately 200 tickets already purchased in the area will be moved into Trackside itself. Trackside Village tickets were $20, while Trackside seating tickets are $25.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Snake Mountain lands in cozy spot

ELMONT, N.Y. - Snake Mountain, a winner of four races from seven starts this year, looks like he has landed in another good spot in Friday's $58,000 allowance feature at Belmont Park.

The beautifully bred Snake Mountain is one of seven older males entered in the classified allowance, which will be run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, around one turn.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Patrol gets his shot at the big time

ELMONT, N.Y. - As Patrol sped his way to victory in a May 11 maiden turf race at Belmont Park, it was hard not to think about another Claiborne Farm horse from a decade ago.

It was in the fall of 1992 that Lure launched his turf career, winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Belmont. He would go on to win back-to-back runnings of the Breeders' Cup Mile.

Saturday, Patrol will try to prove he is worthy of running in the Breeders' Cup Mile when he runs in Saturday's $350,000 Kelso Handicap, a race Lure won in 1993.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

This closer can home in on the speed

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Larry Ross was encouraged as he surveyed the nomination list for Saturday's $100,000 California Sprint Championship at Bay Meadows.

The six-furlong sprint drew 10 nominees, and nine of the 10 routinely run the opening half-mile in the 44-second range.

Radar Contact, trained by Ross, is the lone true closer among the nominees.

"There appears to be a lot of speed," he said.

But, Ross added, Radar Contact is coming off a "bad race."

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Young Turk Early Wisdom takes on elders

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - An improving 3-year-old in the fall can be very dangerous facing older rivals, as English invader Ballingarry proved at Woodbine in last Sunday's Canadian International.

A locally based runner will put the theory to the test here Saturday when Early Wisdom, who is coming off an impressive win in the 1 1/8-mile Colonel R.S. McLauglin here Sept. 14, faces his elders over the same distance in the Durham Cup.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Perfect Drift back in Indiana Derby

ANDERSON, Ind. - Judging by the number of horses entered for Saturday night's $400,000 Indiana Derby, the race has earned its new Grade 3 status.

A total of 14 horses were entered Wednesday in Hoosier's 1 1/16-mile showcase race, but only 12 were assigned post positions; the other two horses were excluded. Races are normally limited to 10 starters over Hoosier Park's seven-eighth-mile oval but the limit is raised to 12 for stakes.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Opener a showcase for Significant Speed

Significant Speed, coming off a win in the All American Gold Cup, tops a strong group of Texas-breds in the B.F. Phillips Jr. Handicap when the Lone Star Park fall Quarter Horse season, called the Fall Meeting of Champions, starts on Friday night.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Top trainers to ship in for Festival undercard

MIAMI - The final legs of the Florida Stallion Stakes, the $400,000 In Reality and My Dear Girl Stakes, will command most of the attention on the Oct. 12 Festival of the Sun program. But the undercard should be a beauty, featuring five six-figure stakes, including the $200,000 Calder Derby and its filly counterpart, the $200,000 Calder Oaks.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

Eltawaasul shows up for $50,000 Manila

Three $50,000 stakes, the Manila, Princeton, and Salem County, support the $400,000 Meadowlands Cup on a 10-race card on Friday evening.

A fourth stakes, the $50,000 Seton Hall, failed to draw enough entries and was scrapped.

The most interesting undercard stakes is the Manila, a 1 3/8-mile grass race for 3-year-olds and up. The Manila, which drew 12 runners, plus one main-track only, K.O.'s Crypto, will be run as the ninth race, following The Meadowlands Cup.

Eltawaasul, last year's Manila winner, has been entered by trainer Pat Reynolds.

Wed, 10/02/2002 - 00:00

'Hick' Oglala Sue to be taken seriously

CHICAGO - A Nebraska-bred who made her way to Arlington late this summer by way of Canterbury Park in Minnesota, Oglala Sue was dismissed by most as a hick from the sticks when she raced in a tough optional-claiming sprint here Sept. 18. Provincial she is not. Oglala Sue beat the city crowd by more than a length that day, and Friday she is back for more in Arlington's featured eighth race.