Since he was switched to the turf after coming to Bill Mott's barn, Patrol has done very little wrong. In four starts this year, the 3-year-old Patrol has won three times, including a $75,000 stakes at Delaware Park.
He does have a couple flaws, however.
Patrol must break cleanly and avoid overexerting himself when he makes his first start in five weeks in Friday night's $100,000 Rushing Man Stakes at The Meadowlands.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Northern Won, trained by Ellen Jackson, could be the colt to beat in Friday's Bay Meadows feature, a six-furlong maiden race for 3-year-olds and up.
Jackson has had Northern Won at her Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, Calif., since the horse was 2 months old.
In addition to running a breeding operation that includes the stallion Simply Majestic, Jackson also breaks yearlings and helps prepare horses to race.
Northern Won ran third, beaten a neck, in his Aug. 28 debut at Sacramento. He surprised Jackson in one regard.
Fastest qualifier Struttin to Beduino looks to have found a good spot for his second 2002 stakes win in the Grade 2, $64,800 MBNA America Central Challenge at Prairie Meadows on Friday.
The winner of the 440-yard stakes for 3-year-old and older horses qualifies for the Grade 1, $300,000 MBNA America Challenge Championship at Lone Star Park on Nov. 2.
Struttin to Beduino, winner of the Grade 2 Eastex Handicap at Remington Park on April 6, was the fastest qualifier by the closest of times when he won his trial by a nose over the second-fastest qualifier, Let the Straw Fly.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Don Winfree has seen and done enough in 31 years of training racehorses that his instincts are his guide.
Some trainers might have been tempted to get a good horse like Tenpins back into action as soon as possible after he recovered from an illness following his last start in June, but Winfree trusts what his experience tells him. He is secure in the knowledge that giving Tenpins virtually the entire summer off might very well return dividends this fall.
ELMONT, N.Y.- Gary Contessa believes his five rivals are in a no-win situation when they take on Delray Dew in a 1 1/16-mile classified allowance race, the feature race Thursday at Belmont Park.
"Let's put it this way, if somebody runs with her they're committing race suicide, and if they don't run with her they're in big trouble," Contessa said.
CHICAGO - The door stands wide open for Swinging Gate to score another comfortable allowance win Thursday at Arlington. A two-length winner of a second-level allowance here Aug. 14, Swinging Gate faces six opponents in a third-level allowance that seems no tougher than a race she easily won about a month ago.
AUBURN, Wash. - The final leg of the Stanislaw Ashbaugh Series, which features enhanced purses for bottom-level starter allowance company, will be contested over 1 1/4 miles at Emerald Downs on Thursday. A field of 10 will vie for the $10,000 pot.
Favoritism should be hotly contested, all the more so because none of the entrants has credentials at Thursday's distance, but veterans Shawo Mountain and Tissington figure to have more than their share of backers.
DALLAS - Sam Houston Race Park closed out its 42-night Quarter Horse meet Saturday with small declines in average daily attendance and handle from the corresponding meet a year ago. Average daily purses at the Houston oval rose, though, to $84,658.
Attendance this meet dropped less than 1 percent, to an average of 4,197 patrons a card, while nightly handle on the track's races dipped 3 percent, to $705,791. Purses were up nearly 4 percent from last year's daily average of $81,783.
The inaugural National Thoroughbred Racing Association Great State Challenge on Dec. 7 will highlight the 80-day Thoroughbred meet at Sam Houston Race Park, opening Nov. 1 and running through March 30. Purses at the meeting will increase to $120,000 a day.
