BALTIMORE - Trainers hoping to use Friday's $150,000 Pimlico Distaff as an easy prep for more prestigious races down the road, received a rude awakening when they picked up the list of entries for Friday's Grade 3 race at Pimlico.
Six of the 12 horses entered in the 1 1/16-mile race are graded or group stakes winners, topped by Dancethruthedawn, Summer Colony, and Fleet Renee.
LAUREL, Md. - There once was a slogan for a state lottery that said, "All you need is a dollar and a dream."
When Nancy Alberts purchased the mare Jazema for $1 several years ago, she had a better chance of hitting the lottery than getting a future Preakness horse. But, on Saturday, the 56-year-old Alberts will be on the Pimlico turf course, standing shoulder to shoulder with Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas, and Nick Zito, saddling longshot Magic Weisner in the 127th Preakness Stakes.
Intimidated, Alberts will not be.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - All the Gears has tested the patience of trainer John Sherriffs in the last 18 months.
At times, All the Gears has been a project, requiring extensive training at the racetrack and a local farm to stay race fit. At other times, he appears on the verge of developing into a stakes-caliber horse.
On Friday at Hollywood Park, the 5-year-old All the Gears starts in a one-mile allowance race on turf. A win would end a five-race losing streak and move him closer to a start in a stakes.
"I still think he can be that kind of horse," Sherriffs said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It took only a minute on Wednesday for Eddie Delahoussaye to get acquainted with Fun House, his mount in Saturday's $100,000 Railbird Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Delahoussaye worked Fun House five furlongs in 1:00.20 to the delight of trainer Ron McAnally. "I thought she went really well," McAnally said. "I wanted Eddie to get familiar with her."
The Railbird Stakes, run over seven furlongs for 3-year-old fillies, will be the first time Delahoussaye has ridden Fun House in a race.
MIAMI - It will be deja vu on Saturday when Mr. Livingston, Tour of the Cat, and Unite's Big Red, the first three finishers from the Jackie Wackie Handicap on Apr. 28, meet once more in the $75,000 Carterista Handicap.
Bob Umphrey, Calder's racing secretary, expects a field of seven or eight turf specialists to square off in the 1 1/16-mile Carterista. Others expected to run are Marquette, Sejm's Madness, Tv Sports Director, and Wertz.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last fall at Churchill Downs, David Carroll enjoyed one of the best meets of his nine-year training career with seven wins and six seconds in just 21 starters.
This spring, Carroll, 42, is off to another solid start at Churchill, having won with two of his first five starters. In Friday's ninth race, Carroll could further improve on his record when he runs perhaps the top contender in the feature, a $46,800 allowance for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
CHICAGO - Something will have to give Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course when six horses face off in the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup. Either Hail the Chief or Duckhorn must back away from the early pace, or the Gold Cup will unfold with a speed duel that could be suicidal for both horses.
"It's going to be a fun race," said Duckhorn's trainer, Pat Byrne. "There are two speed horses and four closers. It should be interesting."
A little more than four weeks into the River Downs meet, jockey Larry Taylor and trainers Joe Woodard and Ron Powell were leading their respective divisions.
Through Tuesday's card, Taylor had 21 wins, four more than Rodney Prescott. Five other riders have scored 10 or more victories. Among the trainers, Woodard and Powell have each won 10 races, and are three wins ahead of Marty Long.
ALTOONA, Iowa - With a little more than one-quarter of the 52-day meeting at Prairie Meadows in the books, Terry Thompson appears well on his way to a third consecutive riding title.
Thompson held a 23-14 edge over Cindy Noll in the standings through Tuesday's racing. Greg Schaefer is one win behind Noll in third in the standings. Luis Quinonez, with 11, is the only other rider with at least 10 wins at the meet.
Veteran agent Kenny Washburn is very happy with the current standings as he books mounts for both Thompson and Schaefer.
LINCOLN, Neb. - Lincoln's State Fair Park opens for 34 days of racing Friday with the track's 1,005 stalls allotted and nearly filled for the early summer meet.
One of the biggest changes at the meet will be the strong presence of trainers David Anderson and Marv Johnson, both of whom have brought large strings here after being primarily based in Iowa or Minnesota the past two years.