ALTOONA, Iowa - Prairie Meadows has evicted trainer Ray Stifano from the grounds and given him until Friday morning to remove his 36-horse stable from the backside here.
The eviction stems from a dispute between Stifano and racing officials over his stall allotment, which was cut from 36 during the Thoroughbred meeting, which concluded on July 6, to 16 during the current mixed meeting, which began on Monday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - On the opening weekend of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting in April, Smokin' Charlotte won her first important race in the $175,000 Fran's Valentine Stakes.
On Friday, the start of the closing weekend of the meeting, Smokin' Charlotte will be heavily favored to win her second stakes in the restricted $75,000 Valkyr Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares over a mile on turf. The Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting closes on Sunday.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The final sunset racing card of the Belmont Park summer meet features an allowance race that easily could be a stakes.
Among the five fillies and mares entered in Friday's $56,000 allowance, four are stakes winners: Bella Bellucci, Shiny Band, Tax Affair, and Ransom's Pride.
The 1 1/8-mile dirt race is for nonwinners of $10,000 twice over a mile this year or nonwinners-of-four-races other than.
AUBURN, Wash. - Faithful Gal on Friday tries to repeat her successful invasion of last year in the first leg of the Harley H. Hoppe and Associates Marathon Championship Series at Emerald Downs.
This is the first of three races for 3-year-olds and up who are eligible for a $10,000 starter allowance. Seven will compete for a purse of $12,000 over 1 1/8 miles.
The series will continue with a 1 1/4-mile leg on Aug. 2 and conclude with a 1 1/2-mile leg Aug. 17.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Running a horse in a Grade 1 stakes at 1 1/2 miles in her third start might not be the most conventional thing to do, but trainer Terry Knight thinks Sister Girl Blues can handle it.
Sister Girl Blues arrived at Belmont Park from Bay Meadows on Tuesday for Saturday's $350,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, the final leg of New York's triple for 3-year-old fillies.
"If you're going to do something unorthodox, she's the kind of horse that is mentally comfortable with most things," Knight said. "She's always laid back."
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Every time she looks behind her in the starting gate, Victory at Sea sees some new guy on her back. Friday, Rene Douglas takes his turn on Victory at Sea, who clearly is the horse to beat in Arlington's $45,000 feature.
There was rider continuity early in Victory at Sea's career. Larry Melancon rode her the first two times she raced, and Pat Day was up in her next three starts. But in seven races since then Victory at Sea has had a different pilot each time.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Bonapaw has traveled from Dubai to Des Moines this year, but his longest trip may come Saturday, when he will be asked to stretch his speed one mile in the $100,000 Hanshin Cup.
Bonapaw, the pride of New Orleans, has lost two races in a row for the first time since last summer. A trip to Dubai in late March produced a sixth-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, and Bonapaw most recently was fourth in the July 4 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows.