EDMONTON, Alberta - Sweet Monarch will be out to reverse her narrow loss to Code's Decree in the July 20 Northlands Oaks when they meet in the $75,000 Sonoma Handicap here Saturday.
Sweet Monarch's determined rally fell just a neck short in of Code's Decree in the one-mile Oaks and the 3-year-old fillies will be traveling an additional half-furlong in the Sonoma.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Without a true standout in the Grade 3, $100,000 Sapling at Monmouth on Saturday, the field is wide open for any of the eight 2-year-olds to jump up and stamp himself as a juvenile to watch in the late summer and fall. For bettors, the key angle will be figuring out how important experience is, because while several starters are already seasoned racehorses, two are still maidens and four more only hold one career win.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Had she run a jump faster on a mid-summer night in Des Moines, See How She Runs would be 6 for 6 and, perhaps, hailed as a rising star in the 3-year-old filly division.
Instead, Lost at Sea beat her a head in the Iowa Oaks, and when See How She Runs starts Saturday at Arlington in the Singapore Plate, she comes off a losing race for the first time in her career.
But trainer Donnie Von Hemel has no visions of redemption Saturday. "It's nothing like that," Von Hemel said. "I just feel like we've got a nice filly, same as before."
This year could be the last time the Oklahoma Derby, richest race of the 76-day Remington Park meet, which opens Saturday, is run on dirt. Officials are seriously considering moving the Grade 3, $250,000 race to turf for the first time next year. The date of the race could also be pushed back to September or early October.
"It's something we're going to take a good look at," said Fred Hutton, director of racing for Remington Park. "It would give us a whole different set of horses to deal with."
When the powerful and far-flung Magna Entertainment purchased Remington Park in Oklahoma City in the fall of 1999, local concerns hoped the transaction would translate into wider distribution of the track's signal.
Their wishes will be realized Saturday when Remington Park opens for a 76-day meet with its largest network of simulcast outlets ever. The season, which gets underway with the $30,000 Chuck Taliaferro Memorial Stakes, runs to Dec. 21.
SALEM, N.H. - With all the pageantry of Saratoga a mere 3 1/2 hours away, New England's racing fans can easily be drawn into desires to make a splash at the Spa. Trainer John Rigatteri has already made a big splash there, and remains easy-going about his latest success.
The $100,000 Obeah Stakes, run June 22 at Delaware Park, could be considered a negative key race by handicappers.
Aside from the decisive winner, Your Out, who came within a few yards of upsetting Summer Colony in the $600,000 Delaware Handicap, nearly every one of the fillies and mares who exited the 1 1/8-mile Obeah returned to run poorly. That group includes second- and third-place finishers Quiet Lake and Shag, who each ran seventh next time out. Four other horses have since raced, and only one ran better than third.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Sam-Son Farm entry of Portcullis and Mountain Beacon should be favored Saturday at Woodbine in the $500,000 Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
A field of 10 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds will line up in the 1 1/2-mile event, one of the few races contested over one full lap of the European-style E.P. Taylor turf course.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - When it comes to winning the Breeders' Stakes, there's no better authority than trainer Roger Attfield.
Attfield has won a record seven Breeders' Stakes, including three of the last four.
His three latest wins came with fillies: Sweetest Thing in 2001, Free Vacation in 1999, and Pinafore Park in 1998. Attfield also sent out the filly Carotene to victory in the 1986 Breeders.'