JAMAICA, N.Y. - There will be some international intrigue to next Saturday's Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as Laissezaller, a Kentucky-bred colt who has raced exclusively in Britain, has been added to the field.
A son of End Sweep, Laissezaller has been trained by Amanda Perrett in England. Following the Wood, Laissezaller will remain in this country and be transferred to Bill Mott.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Nine 3-year-old Ohio-bred fillies in search of their first stakes scores have been entered in Sunday's $40,000 Royal North Stakes at Beulah Park.
Michel With One L scored back-to-back open-length victories here in March for trainer Michael Nance. Those wins followed a seven-month layoff. Julio Felix, who has been aboard Michel With One L in all four of her starts, has a return call in the six-furlong stakes for owner M. Y. Stable Inc.
VINTON, La. - Pancho's Karma, the fastest qualifier in three trials held March 21, is the likely favorite for Saturday night's Jean Lafitte Futurity at Delta Downs. The Lafitte, which is worth $101,430, is the showcase event of this meeting and the country's first stakes of the year for 2-year-olds.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Eric Coatrieux certainly is no stranger to a good horse.
In his days here at Woodbine with Roger Attfield, as an exercise rider and then as an assistant trainer, Coatrieux was associated with Canadian champions such as Alywow, Peteski, and Talkin Man.
More recently, in his position as assistant trainer for Godolphin Racing, Coatrieux rubbed shoulders with the likes of international stalwarts Swain, Daylami, and Fantastic Light.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Mayakovsky has the best early speed. Easy Grades has the race's winningest rider. Danthebluegrassman has a trainer who has won the race four times in the last six years. U S S Tinosa already has won at the distance. These are the strengths each will carry into Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, in which they will try to beat Came Home, who is, quite simply, the race's best horse.
CHICAGO - In a more forgiving world, Repent would enter the Illinois Derby as a solid early favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Repent finished second of 12 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He has won five times in seven starts and was victorious in his two races at age 3, both graded stakes.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the weeks following the Golden Rod Stakes last fall, trainer Ken McPeek came to believe that Take Charge Lady had not been 100 percent. But when the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes is run for the 65th time Saturday at Keeneland, a fully rejuvenated Take Charge Lady will be looking for vengeance against her Golden Rod conqueror, Belterra.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The pecking order of some of the nation's top fillies and mares will become more clear Saturday at Oaklawn Park in the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap. Five of the six horses entered in the 1 1/16-mile race are Grade 1 winners: Azeri, Miss Linda, Affluent, Fleet Renee, and Spain.
The blockbuster field is completed by Verruma, a Group 1 winner in Brazil who finished a sharp second last out on the Grade 1 Santa Maria Handicap.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jealous Forum will begin her 2002 campaign against hot Kentucky shipper Miss City Halo and five other 3-year-old fillies in Saturday's Star Shoot Stakes, a six-furlong dash worth $136,250.
Jealous Forum, a nicely bred daughter of Open Forum, was among the top 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine in 2001. She was an easy winner of her first two starts, including My Dear Stakes, and was a close second in both the Grade 1 Mazarine Breeders' Cup Stakes and the Ontario Debutante.
CALGARY, Alberta - The 25th running of the Stampede Park Sprint Championship is four weeks away but at least two trainers already have their eyes upon the $40,000 guaranteed handicap.
Saturday's feature, an open allowance for 3-year-olds and upward for a $20,300 purse, drew six entrants, and trainers Ernie Keller and Ron Grieves were most appreciative that the race filled at entries Wednesday morning.