ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Flaming Sky, a surprising second in the 2001 Breeders' Stakes, could win his maiden in Friday's finale at Woodbine.
The 1 1/16-mile turf race is a split of a maiden special weight race for 3- and 4-year-olds. Eight races were carded Friday, instead of the usual 10, mainly because of a virus that has hit Woodbine's horse population hard this month.
Three-time futurity winner Zip First, who was not entered in the trials to the $2 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on Aug. 15, will run in the trials to the Grade 1, $316,000 Sam Houston Futurity at 400 yards on Friday night at Sam Houston Race Park.
Zip First, owned by Gary Hartstack, won the Grade 1, $565,000 Ruidoso Futurity on June 9 and was second in the Grade 1, $640,225 Rainbow Futurity on July 21 at Ruidoso Downs. Earlier this year he won the Grade 2, $191,080 Manor Downs Futurity and the Grade 2, $119,200 Longhorn Futurity.
Missme, who has become a two-time stakes winner since changing his running style, has joined the lineup for the Grade 3, $250,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday, bringing the number of definite starters for the 1 1/8-mile race to six. There are also three horses considered possible for the race, which is the richest of the meet at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.
Jim Dandy winner and Belmont Stakes runner-up Medaglia d'Oro, who is expected to be the heavy favorite in Saturday's 133rd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers, was installed as the 2-5 morning line Travers favorite at a post position draw breakfast at Saratoga Wednesday morning.
Medaglia d'Oro, trained by Bobby Frankel, drew post five in the nine-horse field and will be ridden by Jerry Bailey.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Ken McPeek may have been the second happiest trainer on the Saratoga grounds last Saturday when Farda Amiga won the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes off a 106-day layoff.
That gave McPeek even more impetus - and confidence - to continue to point Repent to this Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes. Come Saturday, it will be 140 days - exactly 20 weeks - since Repent last raced, finishing second to War Emblem in the Illinois Derby on April 6.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With no stakes scheduled on Thursday at Saratoga, a first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies will be the feature.
The $47,000 allowance, the eighth on a nine-race card, drew seven fillies, including an Steve Asmussen-trained entry, Big Score and Spinning Wind. But on Tuesday morning, Asmussen's assistant, Scott Blasi, said Spinning Wind would be scratched from the six-furlong race because she had an elevated temperature and left behind some food in her feed tub.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Ted H. West subscribes to the theory that if you can't beat 'em, claim 'em. He was so impressed that Turkish Prize beat his Beautiful Balance at Hollywood Park on June 29 that he decided to reach in and grab Turkish Prize when he ran back on July 24.
AUBURN, Wash. - It appears certain that Sunday's 67th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile will overfill, and that horses intended for the race will be left on the sidelines for the first time in memory.
In the inaugural running of the Mile in 1935, Coldwater topped a field of 16, while 14 runners contested the race as recently as 1990, when Snipledo won. These days, however, the field is limited to 12, and there are at least 17 whose connections want them to run. Preference is determined by weight.
No one went with Confucius Say early, and nobody came close to catching him late.
Confucius Say ($15.80), a 4-year-old gelding based at Charles Town with trainer George Yetsook, wired a field of five older horses in Tuesday's $57,900 at Delaware Park.