ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher probably will spend a fair amount of time watching the Weather Channel the next couple of days.
Pletcher has entered Pennsylvania Derby winner Harlan's Holiday in Friday night's $350,000 Pegasus Handicap, but likely will scratch if the track is sloppy. Friday's forecast calls for heavy rain.
Pletcher also planned to cross-enter Harlan's Holiday in Saturday's $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Trainer Spanky Broussard toyed with the idea of pointing San Pedro to Sunday's Washington Park Handicap, but ultimately he settled on Friday's $42,000 Play Fellow, a one-mile handicap for Illinois-breds at Arlington Park. Just as Broussard wanted, the Play Fellow is a much softer spot - but it's not an easy spot.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Stakes winner Mobil, and the Sam-Son Farm entry of Walls of Jericho and Swift of Flight head Friday's Woodbine feature, the $79,400 allowance prep for the Oct. 12 Cup and Saucer Stakes.
Mobil, trained by Mike Keogh for owner Gustav Schickedanz, won his maiden in the Sept. 2 Simcoe Stakes, for graduates of local yearling sales. He pressed the pace from the outset in that seven-furlong dash, and dueled Timeform into submission to prevail by a half-length, earning a solid Beyer Speed Figure of 78 for his efforts.
POMONA, Calif. - Warren's Whistle and Covincing were unheralded 2-year-old fillies when they scored impressive wins just days apart during the 2000 Los Angeles County Fair meet at Fairplex Park. Warren's Whistle has since earned more than $500,000 for trainer Mel Stute, while Covincing is still finding her niche.
She may have found it Friday at Fairplex in the $100,000 Las Madrinas Handicap. Twelve fillies and mares entered the 1 1/16-mile Las Madrinas, a race Covincing has pointed to for weeks.
Keeneland plans to offer 3,597 horses to bidders during its November breeding stock auction, the largest, longest, and most lucrative sale of its kind all year.
The sale, scheduled for Nov. 4-13, will offer 1,951 broodmares, 146 broodmare prospects, 1,339 weanlings, and 161 horses of various other ages, according to Keeneland.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Shaun Bridgmohan, who will ride Evening Attire in Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup, won five races on Wednesday's card at Belmont Park. It was the first five-win day for a journeyman rider in New York this year.
Apprentice Lorenzo Lezcano rode five winners on Feb. 6 at Aqueduct.
It was Bridgmohan's best day as a journeyman. On Feb. 15, 1998, as an apprentice, Bridgmohan rode six winners at Aqueduct.
ELMONT, N.Y. - A pair of 3-year-olds returning from long layoffs, a European shipper now in the hands of Bobby Frankel, and an unsettled forecast make for an interesting feature Friday afternoon at Belmont Park.
The seven-furlong allowance, for 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races, features the return of once-promising 3-year-olds D'Coach and Onthedeanslist.
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Pedro Alvarado, who is on his way to his first riding title in just his second season of riding at Hastings Park, has clearly found a home in Vancouver.
Alvarado, a 37-year-old from Mexico, counts himself fortunate, because a home was exactly what he needed when he landed here early last year after riding out a six-month contract in Macau, an island off the south China coast.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Everything went according to plan at Louisiana Downs during its summer meet that ended Sunday, even though a new group unexpectedly signed on to buy the track in August.
A pre-meet decision to overpay purses before slots are installed next year improved the quality of racing and increased business figures, as officials had hoped. An added perk came when Harrah's Entertainment, one of the nation's leading gambling entities, agreed to buy controlling interest in Louisiana Downs.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Tenpins may eventually be recognized as a force in the national handicap division, but more recently his fame has come because of mouthwash.
All set to return from a summer layoff designed to enhance the last third of his 4-year-old season, Tenpins missed the Sept. 14 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park when, shortly before the race, he was seen receiving a benign oral spray used to clear a horse's airway. Kentucky racing rules prohibit the administration of any medication within four hours of a race, and Turfway stewards scratched Tenpins.