OCEANPORT, N.J. - When Blazing Fury left Monmouth Park last June after running seventh in a maiden turf race, trainer Jimmy Toner said he was disappointed and dumbfounded. When Blazing Fury returns to Monmouth this Saturday under much different circumstances, Toner will be excited.
Why?
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - No games. No fooling around. No waiting or rating.
No, the strategy for Morluc in the Firecracker Handicap will be as straightforward as it appears on paper: Go to the front and never look back.
"If they want to go with us," said trainer Randy Morse, "they're going to be going too fast."
ALTOONA, Iowa - The Iowa Festival of Racing was created with the intention of luring some of the sports best horses, jockeys, and trainers to Prairie Meadows, which has prospered since adding slot machines in 1995. While that is not an easy goal, each of the first three festivals has proved a success, and this week's races are again expected to offer both quality and depth.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Longshot Cavalier Billie overhauled 1-2 favorite Fleet of Foot in deep stretch to take the $166,950 Ontario Damsel Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
It was the stakes debut for Cavalier Billie, who rallied four wide from four lengths back to win the 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint by two lengths.
"I was fortunate enough to be able to sit off [the leaders]", said Robert Landry, who rode Cavalier Billie. "She kicked on when I asked her."
Cavalier Billie ($36.90) earned $100,170 for owner George Ledson and trainer Sergio Greco.
ELMONT, N.Y. - New Jersey shipper Mike's Wildcat ($30.40) assumed the lead soon after the start and was never seriously challenged en route to an eight-length victory in the $109,700 Astoria Stakes for juvenile fillies at Belmont Park.
"They told me she was fast and they were right,'' said Jose Santos, who rode Mike's Wildcat for owner Dennis Narlinger and Monmouth Park-based trainer Jeff Bonde. "She was just cruising along out there, with her ears up. I knew it was over at the three-eighths pole.''
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - An entry boycott that threatened to disrupt racing at Hollywood Park was averted on Sunday after trainers received assurances from track officials that revenue from pending legislation would be used to offset increases in workmen's compensation insurance.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kona Gold will make history if he wins Saturday's $300,000 Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap as the 126-pound topweight.
In the 50-year history of the sprint at Hollywood Park, no winner has carried more than 124 pounds. There have been four winners at 124 pounds, the most recent of which was Bedside Promise in 1987. Several horses failed to win at higher weights, including Imbros (second in 1954) and Revel (third in 1960) who each carried 128 pounds.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Trainer William J. Morey Jr. had high hopes for Wild Celebration last year when the colt was a 2-year-old.
Wild Celebration can live up to those hopes Wednesday when he meets five rivals in the $40,000-added Pleasanton Stakes at the Alameda County Fair.
All six 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-mile race will be looking for their initial stakes victory.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Wednesday's fifth race at Hollywood Park offers a preview of the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 24.
The Oceanside is a restricted race for nonwinners of a first-place purse of $50,000 this year, which none of the 10 3-year-olds in Wednesday's $50,000 allowance race/optional claimer has accomplished.
No one will lose that eligibility with a win on Wednesday, but a win would enhance a horse's chance of being selected if the Oceanside is oversubscribed.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Perhaps Nasty Storm is like some of the basketball teams that one of her co-owners used to coach: much more productive during the second half of the season.
Hopefully for Nasty Storm, a 4-year-old filly owned in partnership by Denny Crum and others, the second half again will be better than the first. That is certainly the way things worked out last year for Nasty Storm: She reeled off consecutive victories in the Weekend Delight, Raven Run, and Churchill Downs Distaff, accounting for the majority of a 2001 bankroll of nearly $385,000.
