PHOENIX, Ariz. - How competitive is Saturday's $22,000 Ocean Bay at a mile on a turf?
Of the nine entrants, five come off wins. One who doesn't was facing tougher in Southern California previously. Another one was good enough to get a shot against other Southern California shippers in the $50,000 Glendale Handicap here Feb. 9. One of those who did win her last start, did so sprinting on dirt; she's never won on turf and never won going this far.
CALGARY, Alberta - Hoist Anchor and Turtle Ridge head a field of nine fillies and mares in Saturday's feature over six furlongs here at Stampede Park. An optional claimer, the feature offers a purse of $18,800.
Hoist Anchor and Turtle Ridge are the only members of the field older than 4.
Hoist Anchor, 7, hasn't been a threat in stakes company lately, but she won two stakes here in 1999. An Arkansas-bred, Hoist Anchor hasn't run since August, but has always run well fresh for trainer Don Gilkyson.
Hoist Anchor breaks from post 4 with Perry Winters up.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - El Prado Essence didn't attract much attention in her 2002 debut here in the La Voyageuse, finishing fourth behind the invader Madame Roar.
But Audre Cappuccitti, who trains El Prado Essence, believes that race served its purpose, and she expects El Prado Essence to make her presence felt in Saturday's featured Whimsical Stakes.
El Prado Essence, a 5-year-old mare who had her best year in 2001, had spent a non-eventful winter at Addison-Hall Farms in nearby Aurora.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The connections of the nine fillies and mares in Saturday's $138,125 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine had to be relieved that Madame Roar wasn't nominated to that six-furlong race.
Madame Roar rolled into town from her Maryland base two weeks ago and startled the locals with an easy front-running win in the La Voyageuse Handicap, in which she ran five furlongs in a snappy 57 seconds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Bobby Frankel has decided to run Megahertz in Saturday's $75,000 Providencia Stakes at Santa Anita after all.
Last weekend, Frankel said that Megahertz, who has won two stakes this year, would pass the Providencia Stakes in favor of stakes at the upcoming Hollywood Park meeting.
But when the entries were drawn on Thursday, Megahertz was one of seven entrants for the Providencia, a restricted race for 3-year-old fillies run over 1 1/8 miles on turf.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The key phrase heard in racing this weekend will be "Kentucky Derby prep."
The term will be applied to the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn.
But it can also be applied to Saturday's $150,000 California Derby at Bay Meadows. The connections of three colts in the field of eight for the 1 1/8-mile race have said they will consider going to Kentucky with a victory Saturday.
Florida Derby winner Harlan's Holiday leads a field six horses drawn Thursday for the 78th running of the Blue Grass Stakes to be run at Keeneland on Saturday. The Blue Grass, a $750,000 Grade 1 event for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, will be run as the ninth race on Keeneland's live race card.
Harlan's Holiday drew the No. 3 post in the Blue Grass, which will serve as his final prep race for the Kentucky Derby. Harlan's Holiday, trained by Ken McPeek and ridden by jockey Edgar Prado, is listed as the 6-5 favorite in Keeneland's morning line odds.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - A field of eight Kentucky Derby hopefuls were drawn Thursday morning for the 78th running of Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on Saturday. The Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds will be contested as the eighth race on a 10-race program for a purse of $750,000.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A string of longshots on Wednesday at Santa Anita has created a pick six carryover of $114,773 for Thursday's program.
The winners in Wednesday's pick six races were Calista's Star ($6), Guiding Force ($12), Continental Miss ($32), Sotogrande ($17.80), Continental Stitch ($69.20) and Hasta Lavista Baby ($6.60).
Thursday's pick six carryover marks the 22nd time in 76 days of racing at this meeting that the pick six carried forward.
Here is a look at Thursday's pick six races.
CALGARY, Alberta - Breezy Creek, who runs in Friday's feature, has been fond of Stampede Park since 1998.
That year, Breezy Creek emerged from the claiming ranks to blossom into the hot horse of the spring meet for trainer Rod Haynes.
Breezy Creek, a son of Chapel Creek, is small in stature but is all heart as he demonstrated when he won the Herald Gold Plate in 1998. He went on that year to earn a nomination in Alberta's champion older horse category but was edged out by Timely Ruckus, who had defeated him in Northlands Park's Spangled Jimmy.