INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The heat of battle is no place for sentimentality, and the Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap on Sunday at Hollywood Park is by no means a foregone conclusion.
"It's a tough race," Came Home's trainer Paco Gonzalez said, "especially with the weight he carries."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There's no disputing the fact that Anglian Prince is a deserving candidate for Sunday's Queen's Plate.
His best effort, a scintillating performance in the Marine Stakes at Woodbine, probably would be more than enough to make him the king of the Plate lineup.
But in view of his schedule this spring, will Anglian Prince be on the upswing or downswing Sunday?
Anglian Prince, trained by 75-year-old Mort Hardy for 82-year-old Len Prussky, certainly has not taken the path of least resistance on his way to this year's Queen's Plate.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Classic Case, who was taken off the Queen's Plate trail after finishing sixth in the Plate Trial here June 1, could pick up a consolation prize when he returns to turf for the Charlie Barley, one of three stakes on the Plate Day undercard.
The Charlie Barley, worth $110,000, is an open one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds that attracted a field of 10.
The 11th and final race on the program is the Sweet Briar Too Stakes, in which El Prado Essence looms the choice among seven fillies and mares vying over seven furlongs for a purse of $107,000.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Short-term pain for long-term gain. That was the message for racing fans who arrived at Northlands Park on opening weekend, only to find the main floor of the Spectrum blocked off.
Five hundred slot machines are being installed in that area in a $5.5 million face-lift for the grandstand. That will double the number of machines here, and revenue from the current machines has sent purses soaring during the past two years.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Harold Barroby has two excellent chances of winning Sunday's feature race at Hastings Park. Eternal Secrecy looks like the one they will all be chasing in the $50,000 optional claimer and his stablemate, Paladdie, figures to make a bid in the late stages of the 1 1/16-mile race.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - As many as 450 Thoroughbred trainers in California face higher workmen's compensation rates from a government-backed insurer on July 1 unless a private insurance company steps forward to offer lower rates, a top racing official said.
As of Friday, with a little more than week before new policies must be written, racing officials doubted that a new source of insurance could be found as an alternative to the State Fund.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After Duckhorn finished a tired fourth in the Hawthorne Gold Cup in May, trainer Pat Byrne and owner Michael Tabor went to Plan B, opting for a turf allowance instead of the Stephen Foster Handicap.
The allowance conditions suited him perfectly. The grass did not. Duckhorn, sent off at 4-5, was never able to poke his head in front on the grass, and weakened to fourth, 24 lengths behind Jeremiah Jack.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The board of directors of Churchill Downs Inc. deferred action on the second phase of the track's massive renovation at its quarterly meeting Thursday. The move was dictated by uncertainty in how the track's tax status will be addressed by Kentucky state government by the end of the month.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Taylor's Queen, impressive winner of the $102,000 Jean Lafitte Futurity last year at Delta Downs, beat a field of stakes winners in her first start at 3 on Thursday night at Lone Star Park. She was one of four winners on the card for leading trainer Cole Norman.
Norman won the early daily double ($17.80) with Pagin'paige Leigh ($3) and Electrode ($12.20), and the late double ($13.80) with Taylor's Queen ($7.80) and Shineystone ($4.60). Overall, he has won 63 races in 52 days of racing this meet.