OCEANPORT, N.J. - Two horses making their stakes debuts look best of the six entered in the $50,000 Serena's Song Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Monmouth Park.
New York shippers Dreamers Glory and Dubai Fall are coming off impressive victories, and they should attract plenty of betting.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - For Chris Block, "just do it" was more than an empty slogan. Still a kid, fresh out of Philo, Ill., he made up his mind to do what he wanted. He wanted to be a horse trainer.
By all accounts, Block has become very good at it. His win percentage stays high and his Arlington meets are especially strong. He trains for Dick Duchossois, Arlington's chairman, and last year Block came up with the best horse he has ever trained, Cashel Castle, who won five of six starts, including the Grade 3 Lafayette, before going to the sidelines this week.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It's called the Lincoln Heritage now. Maybe, after she becomes a broodmare next year, they will rename it the Ioya Two.
Ioya Two, a 7-year-old, goes her for third straight Lincoln Heritage win Saturday during the Prairie State Festival for Illinois-breds. Though she is nearing the end of a long career, Ioya Two shows no real signs of decline and is a deserving favorite in the Lincoln Heritage, which is run at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Delray Dew, the 120-pound highweight and likely favorite, heads a field of six in the $60,000 Wild Rose Handicap for fillies and mares at Prairie Meadows.
Delray Dew enters the Wild Rose, a 1 1/16-mile event, off an easy 3 1/2-length victory over allowance company here at a mile June 4. A 4-year-old daughter of Devil His Due, Delray Dew has captured two of her three starts since being claimed for $45,000 in late February at Aqueduct by her owner, Des Moines area attorney Maggie Moss.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Eight fillies and mares were entered in the $35,000 Hoist Her Flag Stakes, and it appears seven of them will be chasing Extended View in the six-furlong contest.
Extended View, a late nomination to the Hoist Her Flag, is owned and trained by Louis Roussel. First tried as a 2-year-old at Arlington in the summer of 2000, Extended View did not win a maiden race until her seventh start last June. She gained two more wins against allowance company at Arlington last year before getting a brief rest over the winter.
A Ransom, the 2000 world champion Quarter Horse, heads an outstanding card that includes four 2001 champions and 10 stakes races collectively worth more than $840,000 during Saturday's third annual California Breeders Champions Night at Los Alamitos.
Here's a rundown of the major stakes:
Spencer Childers Championship
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Joanies Bella, winner of the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie at Arlington Park last year, makes her 2002 debut Saturday at Thistledown in the $50,000 Annie Oakley Stakes, which has drawn a field of 10 Ohio-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Joanies Bella, owned by Dan Martin and Jerry Ayres, is a homebred daughter of Mercer Mill. She has posted a lifetime record of 5-1-1 from nine starts, with four of her victories coming in stakes. She earned $234,265 during her 2-year-old campaign.
MIAMI - Kingmaker and Rocker have a lot in common. Neither began his career until April of his 3-year-old season. Each has started only three times but is already an overnight stakes winner. And both will be among the favorites in the $100,000 Unbridled Stakes at Calder on Saturday.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Fancy Bru, the only winner in the field, will be the one to beat in Saturday's Frank Arnason Sire Stakes at Assiniboia Downs.
Eight 2-year-olds have entered the five-furlong restricted event, which carries a purse of $30,000.
Fancy Bru, a half-brother to Fancy As, Horse of the Year in Alberta and British Columbia last year, won the only 2-year-old race run here this season.
Trained by Gary Danelson, Fancy Bru made a good late move between horses on his way to taking that June 7 race.