PHOENIX - The only time the 2-year-old filly First Snowbound ran in an Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Sales stakes it was against males, and she lost. That was the only misstep of her career, as First Snowbound has crossed the finish line first in her four other starts, all against males.
On Saturday, First Snowbound will be favored in the fillies division of the $25,000 ATBA Sales Stakes. In the male division of the stakes, Johnny Is Bad faces up-and-comer Icy Tobin.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - A B Noodle didn't make her first start until March 14, but she has blossomed into the best 3-year-old filly in northern California.
She will attempt to put an exclamation point on her season Saturday, when she returns to the dirt for the first time since finishing third in that March 14 maiden race, when she goes postward in the $60,000-added Palo Alto Handicap at Bay Meadows. The one-mile race is for 3-year-old fillies.
Stakes winners Halo Tyra, Ponche De Leona, and Premo Copy are also among the seven entered in the race.
Oak Hall does not run often, but when he does, he makes it count. A winner of 15 races in 35 starts, the 6-year-old Oak Hall will make his first start in two months Saturday in the $60,000 Shiskabob at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
The 1 1/16-mile turf race is one of four stakes on the card restricted to Louisiana-breds, with purses for the races, all for males, totaling $190,000. A second round of statebred stakes for fillies and mares will be run Sunday.
Few horses are capable of firing their best shot off a layoff of nearly six months. But that's just what Band Is Passing did when he drew off to a two-length victory in last month's Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap.
The 6-year-old Band Is Passing earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in the Miami Mile, his first start since early March. Given a seven-week freshening after that effort, Band Is Passing looks even more formidable in Saturday's $100,000 Flying Pidgeon Handicap at Calder.
When you see Say Florida Sandy still running as an 8-year-old, you might think he is a gelding. He is not.
The richest New York-bred of all time, Say Florida Sandy could follow his successful racing career, which includes $1,930,355 in earnings and 18 stakes wins, with a second career as a stallion. But so far, Say Florida Sandy's owner, John Rotella, has not been inclined to sell the horse for stud duty.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Thanks to several astute claims, trainer Lou Capi has again been prominent at Fort Erie this year.
In 1999, Capi saddled Mr. Magazine to win the Puss N Boots Stakes. Mr. Magazine went on to be named the Fort's horse of the year.
The following two years were quiet for the 52-year-old Capi. In 2000, his barn had seven wins and earnings of $75,560. Last year, he won five races and $96,380.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Scotman was the talk of Alberta two years ago, winning five stakes en route to being named the province's horse of the year and champion 3-year-old.
But Scotman has struggled there over the past two seasons, prompting owners Gordon, Nancy, and Scott Wilson to send him to Woodbine and trainer John Cardella.
On Saturday, Cardella is hoping the change of scenery and racing surface will pay dividends for Scotman, who will be trying turf for the first time in the one-mile Bunty Lawless Stakes.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Every year the New England Turf Writers are forced to wait until the Mom's Command Stakes to crown a champion 2-year-old filly. This year, however, with division leader Sweet Samantha resting on her two superb wins this summer, there's only a faint chance the seven entrants in Saturday's $30,000 sprint could steal the title.
ELMONT, N.Y. - There is no doubt that Say Florida Sandy is the most accomplished of the 83 New York-breds entered in the seven restricted stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday.
The question is whether Say Florida Sandy has lost a step?
That could be answered in the $125,000 Hudson when Say Florida Sandy, an 8-year-old, meets 13 younger sprinters.
Owned by John Rotella, Say Florida Sandy is the 123-pound highweight of the six-furlong race.