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.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In most years, the $150,000 San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita would be a stern test for Bosque Redondo, a minor stakes winner last month.
But with none of the top finishers of the Santa Anita Handicap returning in the lineup, Saturday's running of the Grade 2 San Bernardino is not strong.
For the 5-year-old Bosque Redondo, the San Bernardino is the ideal opportunity to win the first graded stakes of his career. In his last start on March 9, Bosque Redondo, trained by Paco Gonzalez, won the minor Tokyo City Handicap over a mile.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday has attracted the winners of such prestigious races as the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct and the San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita. And, of course, Lusty Latin, the winner of the $30,000 Rattlesnake Stakes at Turf Paradise in January.
Three months later, Joey and Wendy Platts, the owners of Lusty Latin are paying $30,000 to make their colt eligible for the Santa Anita Derby.
His presence proves that Triple Crown hopefuls can start any place.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Down Thepike Mike will attempt to win the Edward Babst Memorial Handicap for the third straight year Saturday at Beulah Park. Down Thepike Mike, who returns from an 11-month layoff, faces 11 other Ohio-breds in the $40,000, six-furlong race.
Down Thepike Mike began his 2001 campaign with a 1 3/4-length victory in the Babst on April 7. He returned one month later and took the Quick Step Handicap at Thistledown. He has been sidelined since.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fancy As, the winner of seven stakes in western Canada last year, is slated to join trainer Brian Palaniuk's string at Woodbine.
Owned by his onetime trainer, Red Smith, and his wife, Linda, Fancy As spent the winter in Southern California with Bob Baffert, where he finished third in both the San Fernando and Strub and seventh in the Santa Anita Handicap.
Fancy As is still in California, but Palaniuk, a longtime acquaintance of Red Smith's, said the horse is scheduled to be flown to Lexington Thursday and then van to Woodbine.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - It would be an understatement to say trainer Michael Dickinson is good with layoff horses. His reputation was forged on that premise with Da Hoss, who returned from a two-year layoff to win the 1998 Breeders' Cup Mile.