SHAKOPEE, Mn. - The $35,000 Frances Genter and $35,000 Victor S. Myers Jr. Stakes are the season's first real opportunities for Minnesota-bred 3-year-old fillies and colts to earn statebred black type.
The two six-furlong stakes also serve as useful preps for the Minnesota Derby and Oaks, which will be contested Aug. 3.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The $75,000 Burnaby Breeders' Cup easily shapes up as the best race of the year at Hastings. One of the things that makes the Burnaby so interesting is that we may all find out how good Bold'n Keen is.
His trainer, Rob VanOverschot, thinks he is as good or better than Alberta Derby winner Lord Shogun, who he also trains.
"I didn't really want to run him in a stakes race right after breaking his maiden but there haven't been any allowance races, so here we are."
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Good Old Sprite seeks his third straight victory Saturday in the $5,000 Saskatoon Handicap at Marquis Downs.
Owned by R J Stable, Good Old Sprite faces just five foes in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and should find his main competition from the lightly raced South on Clarence.
Good Old Sprite was second in three consecutive stakes races last year before finally winning his maiden in September.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Gonetofarr and Mulrainy were ready and willing to take a shot at Ginger Gold here in the June 8 Labatt Woodbine Oaks.
But after chasing Ginger Gold in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks both fillies will pass on a rematch at Fort Erie in Monday's $250,000 Labatt Bison City, the 1 1/16-mile race that is the second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Gonetofarr and Mulrainy still are scheduled to run this holiday weekend, but their efforts will be here, in Sunday's $150,000 Ontario Damsel.
MIAMI - Running Debate first crossed paths with Crimson and Rose eight weeks ago when both 2-year-old fillies launched their careers in a maiden special weight race. Running Debate got the best of that matchup.
Saturday, they meet again with much more on the line in the $100,000 J j'sdream Stakes at Calder.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - June 1952. Harry S. Truman was in the White House. D. Wayne Lukas was in Wisconsin aspiring to be a basketball coach. Carl Nafzger was a 10-year-old farm boy in Texas. But Bob Holthus was already a Thorough-bred horse trainer in Nebraska.
"I'd been around horses my whole life," said Holthus. "Rode a Shetland pony to my first day of school. Getting a license was just a formality."
In the history of Churchill Downs, only two horses have won three consecutive runnings of a stakes race. On Saturday, the venerable 10-year-old gelding Bet on Sunshine will seek his third straight win in the Grade 3, $100,000 Aristides Handicap. If he wins, he would join Indian Maid (Falls City Handicap, 1959-61) and Chorwon (Louisville Handicap, 1997-99) as the only horses to threepeat.
Eight months ago in Kentucky, veteran turf mares Babae and Watch faced each other in the Cardinal Handicap.
Babae bobbled in her second stride out of the gate and wound up sixth as the 6-5 favorite. Watch, despite going three wide on the first turn and five wide into the stretch, won by a length.
The rematch will come at Philadelphia Park in Saturday's $100,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Speed has always been Sempai's game, and trainer Lonnie Arterburn has honed that speed to turn the 4-year-old gelding into one of northern California's top sprinters.
Arterburn will send out Sempai in Saturday's $50,000 Sam J. Whiting Handicap at six furlongs at the Alameda County Fair versus seven foes.
SALEM, N.H. - After a strong performance by Del Mar Show here last week, trainer Bill Mott is sending another horse to Rockingham: High Maintenance in Saturday's $25,000 Rockingham Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
While Del Mar Show seemed to have no problem dealing with the mix of shippers and local talent in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes, this time around Mott's charge could be more vulnerable.