FLORENCE, Ky. - Vindication's victory in Saturday's Kentucky Cup Juvenile at Turfway Park was so impressive that he most likely will head to the Oct. 26 Breeders' Cup Juvenile as one of the favorites. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 87 with his third victory in as many starts.
From the first jump, the Kentucky Cup Juvenile was a funny race.
"Not funny ha-ha," said Pat Byrne, trainer of Private Gold. "Funny peculiar."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Macho Uno, a candidate for the Breeders' Cup Classic at Arlington on Oct. 26, put in a guest appearance at Woodbine on Monday morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.40.
"He breezed real well," said Joe Orseno, who trains Macho Uno for Stronach Stable and who recruited local rider Robert Landry for the work. "I got him going out seven-eighths in 1:30 and a mile in 1:45.
"He kept going, which was good. It didn't tire him out too much; it was about what I expected. It was his first breeze since the Whitney."
AUBURN, Wash. - Condotierri came from 10th in a field of 11 to score an authoritative 2 1-4 length victory over the filly Valour Road in Sunday's $100,000 Gottstein Futurity at Emerald Downs. Time for the 1 1-16 miles was 1:45.
Bub, the 4-5 favorite off a record of four wins from five starts, surged to the lead in the upper stretch but could not fend off the two closers and finished third, beaten 2 1-2 lengths.
POMONA, Calif. - Front-running sprinter FJ's Pace has waited three years for redemption in the Aprisa Handicap, which he lost by a nose during the 1999 Los Angeles County Fair meet. On Wednesday, the wait may be over.
Trained by Doug O'Neill, FJ's Pace has had plenty of ups and downs since 1999, but even O'Neill admits the 7-year-old gelding enters the 2002 Aprisa with no alibi. "He's a horse that goes in cycles, and he's in a good cycle right now," O'Neill said. "He's doing absolutely beautiful."
CHICAGO - The Grade 3-winning 3-year-old filly Take the Cake returns from an injury-induced layoff Wednesday in Arlington's featured eighth race, a six-furlong, third-level optional claimer.
Take the Cake won the Grade 3 Forward Gal this past winter at Gulfstream, but it was a second to Take Charge Lady in the Grade 1 Ashland that ranks as her best race in a seven-start career. Take the Cake even earned a start in the Kentucky Oaks for owner Elizabeth Valando, but endured a troubled trip, finished a distant fifth, and found herself on the disabled list afterward.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Handicappers will have very little to go on Wednesday when trying to determine which of eight 2-year-old fillies to put their money on in an entry-level allowance race at a mile over Belmont Park's Widener Turf Course.
Of the eight entrants, only Civility Cat has run on turf, winning for a $40,000 claiming price in her debut on July 22 at Colonial Downs. In that race, Civility Cat overcame a slow start, and rallied past 12 rivals to win by 2 3/4 lengths.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Last year at this time, Little Lolitta was on her way to coming both the top 3-year-old filly in the province and the top Alberta-bred.
Little Lolitta finished 2001 with five wins in 10 starts, including three stakes, earning $115,911 for her owners Don Gilkyson and Lorrilyn Brown.
Entering the 2002 Thoroughbred season in Alberta, Little Lolitta was expected to carry on where she left off, and it appeared she would do just that when she won at Stampede in her first start of the year, the $40,000 M.R. Jenkins Memorial in May.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Since returning from a brief freshener, Beaux Artes has run the two best races of her life.
Trainer Armando Lage hopes the trend continues in Wednesday's feature race at Bay Meadows, a one-mile allowance race for fillies and mares.
Lage said it has taken him time to understand the 3-year-old filly Beaux Artes, who he says is moody and has to be happy to run her best.
"She's not a horse you can schedule," he said. "Every morning, you have to see how she feels and then you decide if you're going to pony her or gallop her.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Love Kiss, an impressive winner second time off the shelf last out, could be poised for another powerful performance in Wednesday's $79,400 Woodbine headliner.
Nine fillies and mares were entered in the allowance/$80,000 optional claimer. The race will be run at 1 1/16 miles on the grass, which received some much needed rain last weekend, creating a soft course on Sunday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Norm DeSouza was convinced that a busy schedule, and not the switch from turf to dirt, had been the reason for Heyahohowdy's disappointing effort here in the July 31 Eternal Search.
The trainer was sticking to that story Monday morning after Heyahohowdy, who was making her first start in more than six weeks, showed no signs of weariness, skipping over the soft going under regular rider Shane Ellis en route to a dominating score in the La Prevoyante on Sunday.