CALGARY, Alberta - Sunday's $40,000 Teeworth Plate at Stampede Park has lured a contentious field, with seven stakes winners among the nine entrants.
Tyko Tycoon and Scotman, winner of last year's Teeworth Plate, are expected to contest the lead; Sprint Championship hero Sixthirtyjoe and Alberta's 2001 champion older horse, Rancour, are expected to be in close attendance in the second flight.
Late runs can be expected from They Call Me Cody, Red Exit, Kid Copper, and Miki Bleu Eyes.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Mister Cy will be trying for his third straight win in Sunday's feature race at Hastings Park, a $25,000 sprint for older horses. Only five horses have been entered, but all of them appear to have a chance at the top prize.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jockey Richard Dos Ramos, who is in the midst of his 22nd campaign on the Ontario circuit, is this year's recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award. The Gomez award is given to a jockey who is Canadian born, Canadian raised, or has been a regular rider in the country for more than five years and has made significant contributions to the sport. The 39-year-old Dos Ramos, who was born in Trinidad, was back-to-back winner of Sovereign Awards as Canada's outstanding apprentice, in 1981 and 1982.
The Grade 3, $100,000 Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Thursday was loaded with speed, and trainer Joseph Aquilino wanted Vesta to rate. Vesta did nothing of the sort. She jumped to the lead right out of the gate and scorched a first quarter in 22.26 seconds. "She's going too fast," Aquilino said, wincing.
But the headstrong Vesta never let up. She led every step of the way to win in a final time of 1:10.25, holding off the late charge of Willa on the Move. A New Twist, the 7-5 favorite, finished fifth in the field of six.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fast City may have had a chance to beat heavily favored Even the Score in a third-level allowance race May 1 at Churchill Downs, but "he got trapped" before settling for second, said Chuck Simon, trainer of Fast City. "It might have been a different race."
Fast City, whom Simon claimed for $30,000 for owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey nearly 18 months ago, should be able to prove that excuse was valid as the favorite Sunday in the feature race, a $64,000 turf allowance.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bobby Frankel has won the $75,000 Jim Murray Handicap five times, so when asked who he would start in the marathon turf race Sunday at Hollywood Park, Frankel's optimistic response suggested the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
"Who am I running? The winner," he said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Sunday's $75,000-added Bouwerie Stakes at Belmont Park drew an extremely competitive field of 12 New York-breds.
The Bouwerie, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies, is the stakes debut for Carson Hollow, a speedy Carson City filly who is undefeated in two starts.
Other major players are Princess Dixie, the most accomplished member of the field with $212,840 in earnings, and She's Got the Beat, undefeated in restricted company this year.
STICKNEY, Ill. ? After a whirlwind winter, trainer Dick Lundy is right back where he was at this time last year: training in Chicago and readying his stable for the upcoming Arlington meet.
Things weren't supposed to work like this. Lundy signed on as owner Ernie Paragallo's semi-private trainer last fall and had planned to spend this summer in New York. But while saying he had no real complaints with Lundy's training of his horses, Paragallo fired Lundy earlier this spring, putting Lundy back where he was last year.
ELMONT, N.Y. ? Sunday Break, the probable favorite for Saturday's $200,000 Peter Pan, worked Friday at Belmont Park.
In a time nearly identical to his work at Belmont on May 11, Sunday Break covered seven furlongs in 1:28.32, breezing, over the main track shortly after the harrowing break. The clockers said Sunday Break's early fractions were 26.27 seconds, 50.43, and 1:15.23.
In his last work, Sunday Break was accompanied by a workmate. Friday, he breezed alone.