GROVE CITY, Ohio - Starting highweight and likely odds-on choice Lady Cherie heads a field of 10 Ohio-accredited fillies and mares in Sunday's 1 1/16-mile, $45,000 Bobbie Bricker Memorial Handicap at Beulah Park.
Lady Cherie, who will be coupled in the wagering with Left Lane Lorrain as part of an M.Y. Stable Inc. entry, is one of only two horses entered in the Bricker who have a stakes win in 2002.
Cielo Girl, who is 5 for 10 this year, gets back to racing with 3-year-old fillies Sunday in the $30,000 Senorita Stakes at Louisiana Downs after just missing against older rivals last out in the Majorette Handicap.
The seven-furlong Senorita is being run for the first time since 1995.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - It may be easy, but it probably would be unwise to categorize Dispersed Reward - who runs in Sunday's $60,000-added Golden Poppy Handicap at Bay Meadows - as strictly a turf runner.
At first glance, one might think her connections were looking at a condition book from several years back, when the race was a graded turf fixture.
Ocean Drive, ridden by John Velazquez, stayed unbeaten in three career starts when running off to an easy victory Thursday in the $111,500 Green River Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
Owned by Bonnie and Sy Baskin and trained by Todd Pletcher, Ocean Drive paid $4 as the favorite in a field of eight 2-year-old fillies. Sand Springs, the 3-1 second choice, was second, 4 3/4 lengths behind the winner and another 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Moonlight Sonata.
Handicappers who are thinking about backing Toccet in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile might want to first take a look at Saturday's Dover Stakes at Delaware Park.
Cape Good Hope, who raced up close for the first six furlongs of the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park before tiring to finish a distant fifth behind Toccet, returns in the one-mile, $100,000 Dover, one of six races on a card that begins at 10:45 a.m. on Breeders' Cup Day.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - At just over 14 hands tall, Dreams Go Bye is one of the smallest horses at Woodbine, but her diminutive stature hasn't stopped her from becoming one of the fastest runners around.
Dreams Go Bye captured the allowance prep for Saturday's $139,625 Ontario Fashion Handicap, and will try to double up in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares.
Saturday's program will be the sixth anniversary of Breeders' Cup XIII, which was run at Woodbine. The entire BC card from Arlington will be simulcast, and post time for the first of 10 live races is 11:32 a.m.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It will be a long wait between the first and second races Saturday.
The five-hour gap - the first live race is at 9:45 a.m. and the second at 3:05 p.m. - is filled, of course, by the eight-race Breeders' Cup simulcast from Arlington International. Santa Anita's gates open Saturday at 8 a.m.
The live program consists of an ordinary seven-race card in which the feature race is a one-other-than allowance at a mile on turf.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Something will be missing when jockey Omar Figueroa returns to the saddle Saturday at Bay Meadows. There will no longer be an asterisk beside his name, designating him as an apprentice rider receiving a five-pound weight allowance.
The allowance has been many an apprentice's best friend, and business often tails off when riders lose it and become journeymen. But many around Bay Meadows don't think Figueroa, currently fifth in the jockey standings with 25 wins after finishing third during the Bay Meadows spring meeting, will be affected.
Gold Mover can end a two-race losing streak in Saturday's first race, the $100,000 Safely Kept Handicap for fillies and mares at seven furlongs. While the two losses are uncharacteristic for the 4-year-old who has won 10 of 24 starts and $1,000,530, Gold Mover has at least kept good company. Trained by Mark Hennig, Gold Mover finished a dull fourth behind Mandy's Gold in the six-furlong Honorable Miss Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 2 and second to Carson Hollow in the six-furlong Floral Park Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 14.
Capsized brought a big reputation to the Sea o' Erin Breeders' Cup Mile last month. When he finished fourth as the favorite, his connections blamed the loss on a soft turf course.
On Saturday, Capsized will have a chance to redeem himself when he starts in the $100,000 Steinlen Handicap. The race follows the Breeders' Cup Classic.
"He didn't run his main effort last time," said trainer Lisa Lewis. "It rained hard that morning and the turf was soft. He didn't have that late kick. We debated coming back to Arlington, but we thought he had bad luck."