SANTA ROSA, Calif. ? Federal Highway, making his first start around two turns overcame a troubled trip and re-rallied after falling behind late to defeat Blue Slew's Shoes by a nose to win the $53,540 James F. Lyttle Memorial Handicap on Friday at the Sonoma County Fair.
Favored Federal Highway ($4.40) bumped with Rio's Chase after the break and raced four wide around both turns in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds. The winning time was 1:42.95.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The roller-coaster ride of those following the progress of the prospective field for Sunday's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational is over. War Emblem, the nation's top 3-year-old, will be the heavy favorite in the $1 million Haskell, the marquee race of the
78-day Monmouth Park meet.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Optimism remains high for the upcoming Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society preferred yearling sale at Northlands Park despite alarm bells ringing in other areas of the livestock industry on the prairies because of drought.
"We are anticipating at least being able to match last year's excellent sale when our average went from the previous year's $6,140 to $8,040," said Rennie Gellner, manager of the Alberta division of the CTHS.
The sale is scheduled for Aug. 25, a dark day following the Canadian Derby.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Extra sensory perception might be needed to pick the winner of the feature race at Hastings Park Sunday, a $15,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles.
All seven horses look like they have a shot at the win, and it's hard to separate the horses moving up off of sharp wins and the ones coming down after dull efforts.
AUBURN, Wash. - The Governor's Handicap, traditionally regarded as the final local prep for the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, has drawn a field of seven, going 6 1/2 furlongs for a purse of $60,000 at Emerald Downs Sunday.
No fewer than 14 horses have exited the Governor's and won the Mile in past years, and several in Sunday's field have their sights set on the Mile's $250,000 purse. Certainly among them are the field's highweights, Makors Mark and Radar Contact, whose reputations ensure that they will attract strong attention in the mutuels.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Medaglia d'Oro, he remains eligible for a second-level allowance race and hasn't won a race in 140 days.
Still, as one of only three horses to have competed in all three Triple Crown races this spring - and hailing from the dynamic duo of Bobby Frankel and Jerry Bailey - Medaglia d'Oro figures a solid favorite in Sunday's $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. - There are no money-back guarantees when a former star attempts redemption on the racetrack. Congaree once might have crushed a field like the one he faces Sunday, but skeptical bettors will consider the front-runner vulnerable Sunday in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.
Congaree emerged last year as one of the nation's top 3-year-olds by winning the Wood Memorial and Swaps Stakes, and also finishing third in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. An injury in August sidelined him for nine months, and cast doubt on his racing career. The questions linger.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Total Impact, second in the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby at Nad al-Sheba in March, will be favored to win a $61,000 allowance race on Sunday that could serve as a prep to the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 25.
Total Impact has yet to start in a stakes in the United States. He has run in two allowance races in California, including a fourth as a strong favorite at Hollywood Park on May 8.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Clearly a Queen has been a different horse since coming to the barn of Terri Pompay at Monmouth, and she guns for her second consecutive Grade 3 win in the $100,000 Eatontown Handicap at Monmouth Sunday, the highlight of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational undercard.
The Eatontown, run as the eighth race on a 12-race card, drew a field of nine at nine furlongs on the turf.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Bob Baffert, who received a $50,000 appearance fee for bringing War Emblem to Monmouth Park for the $1 million Haskell Invitational, said Friday that half the fee would be donated to charity.
In a statement, Baffert said that the fee was paid by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns Monmouth, and that the fee had played no role in War Emblem's off-and-on status for the race, which will be run Sunday.
