AUBURN, Wash. - Slew's Carousel and Slew of the Night, who finished a nose apart when second and third in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race on Aug. 17, figure to share the favorite's role in Saturday's $25,000 Backstretch Chapel Stakes. The 6 1/2-furlong race, a restricted stakes for Washington-bred 3-year-olds, has drawn a field of six.
Slew's Carousel, who like Slew of the Night is by the prolific Washington sire Slewdledo, might have a slight edge for a couple of reasons.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Intact, trained by Stu Simon, will be given an opportunity Saturday to salvage a season for which great things had been anticipated.
Intact drew post 2 in a compact field of five 3-year-olds who will compete at 1 1/16 miles under allowance terms in the $18,100 feature at Northlands Park.
A British Columbia-bred, Intact launched his season with two successive second-place finishes, including the President's Handicap at Stampede Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Le Cinquieme Essai, perhaps the leading candidate for the Sovereign Award as this year's champion 3-year-old, heads Saturday's Grade 3, $164,700 Col. R.S. McLaughlin Handicap for 3-year-olds at Woodbine.
Le Cinquieme Essai, based at Fort Erie with trainer Paul Nielsen, is unbeaten in three starts this year. He won his maiden in a romp over Fort Erie's main track in early June, and then came here to take a one-mile allowance on the grass by 5 1/4 lengths.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Rather than map out a plan that may take Volponi to a Breeders' Cup race next month, trainer Phil Johnson is plotting out a campaign he hopes will take him to the bank more often.
Johnson said any notion he had about running Volponi in the Breeders' Cup Mile was dispelled when Rock of Gibraltar committed to the race and Good Journey won last Sunday's Atto Mile at Woodbine. And, Johnson said Volponi has seen enough of With Anticipation's gray rear end to know he doesn't need to chase him in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Puzzlement's three wins have come around two turns, but on Saturday he drops back to a one-turn mile in the $150,000 Jerome Handicap.
The Jerome, a Grade 2 for 3-year-olds, drew seven runners.
Puzzlement and Boston Common, who will vie for favoritism, are the co-highweights at 118 pounds.
Puzzlement is coming off a fifth-place effort in the Grade 1 Travers. His trainer, Allen Jerkens, said Puzzlement bled "a couple of drops" in the 1 1/4-mile Travers and will run race with Lasix for the first time in the Jerome.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Grade 1 Test will go down as one of the most exciting races run at Saratoga.
In a race that didn't deserve a loser, You beat the previously undefeated Carson Hollow by a nose.
You and Carson Hollow are both entered on Saturday at Belmont Park but in different spots. While You sets her sights on the Grade 1 Ruffian, Carson Hollow will be the favorite in the $100,000-added Floral Park.
Run for the first time as a graded event, the Grade 3 Floral Park, a six-furlong race, drew a field of five fillies and mares.
DEL MAR, Calif. - After Patrick Valenzuela clinched the riding title at Del Mar on Wednesday, his thoughts turned to his next major objective: finding top rides for next month's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Arlington Park.
Valenzuela finished the 43-day Del Mar meeting with 46 wins, 12 more than runner-up Alex Solis, to wrap up his second consecutive riding title on the Southern California circuit. He also won the title at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting after returning last December from a 22-month suspension for substance abuse violations.
Far from the bustle of Kentucky Cup Day at Turfway, the annual seven-day meet at Kentucky Downs gets under way Saturday at the turf-only track in Franklin, Ky.
The meet starts with four Kentucky Downs races being interspersed into the 10-race Turfway card, making for a 14-race Saturday blockbuster. The first live race from Kentucky Downs will be the second of the card, with an approximate post time of 11:20 a.m. Central. The ensuing Kentucky Downs races are the fourth, sixth, and eighth.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - There's Zealous is a monster of a horse, standing close to 17 hands tall, but the signs trainer Paul McGee began picking up this summer were small and subtle.
There's Zealous wasn't digging in when it counted most in his races. He would come up to horses but not quite go past, or let others go by him in the stretch even when he still had a little something left.
FLORENCE, Ky. - Many racing states, even the good ones, dedicate at least one day a year to statebred horses. California, New York, Maryland, Illinois, and others showcase homegrown product while doling out financial rewards to local owners and breeders.