HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer John Ward still has a hard time believing Snow Dance lost her last start, the Jan. 25 De La Rose Handicap. The computerized photo-finish camera said Snow Dance lost to Veil of Avalon by maybe an inch, but Ward remains skeptical.
"If you look real close at the image, you can see there is some concavity toward the inside," where Snow Dance finished, said Ward. "I honestly think there might have been some distortion, but what do I know?"
ARCADIA, Calif. - Snow Ridge is just plain lucky. Not so, counters trainer Wayne Lukas. "I think he's just a good horse," Lukas said.
How good is he? Good enough to win the first two stakes in Santa Anita's four-race sprint series, and good enough to be heavily favored Sunday in the Grade 1 San Carlos Handicap.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - As a 6-year-old and a Group 1 winner in Argentina, La Galerie was a prime candidate for the breeding shed this year. But her connections knew she was a better horse than she showed in her two years racing in North America and wanted to give her one more opportunity to prove them right.
NEW ORLEANS - It's stock Hollywood narrative, really. Athlete takes sport by storm, falls from grace, and returns later in life seeking redemption. Fade out.
Three years after his soap opera began, Valhol may be ready to begin a new phase of his life this weekend. And, in a nice Hollywood touch, the plot takes Valhol back to the place it all started, Fair Grounds, the site of his first races and of Sunday's $500,000 New Orleans Handicap.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Morluc, one of the nation's top turf sprinters, with earnings of more than $850,000, will make his next start in the $75,000 Shakertown at Keeneland on April 13, according to trainer Randy Morse.
Morluc finished a game second to Boots on Sunday a week ago in his seasonal debut, the $50,000 Turf Sprint Cup at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. "He tried," said Morse. "The turf was a little soft, and when it's like that he can't get a hold of it, he can't go anywhere. I thought he showed a lot of heart to try and come back and win."
Delaware Park has gained a fifth graded race for its stakes schedule this season.
The $250,000 Leonard Richards, to be run on June 8, was upgraded to Grade 3 status earlier this year and has been given a $50,000 boost in purse money. The track's other Grade 3 races are the Delaware Handicap, the Delaware Oaks, the Kent Breeders' Cup, and the Endine Stakes.
NEW ORLEANS - The horse from Opelousas, La., has never tangled with this sort of foe before. But then the horse from Opelousas has never been this good before.
The Louisiana-bred gelding Oak Hall is riding a wave of good form into the New Orleans Handicap, and though he hardly fits the profile of a New Orleans Handicap winner, there's really no telling how good Oak Hall might be.
ARCADIA, Calif. - When the 14 jockeys riding in Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap greet their mounts in the walking ring, many will think they are about to climb aboard the winner.
In a race that lacks a clear favorite or a nationally prominent horse, it is hard to argue with their optimism.
The richest race run at Santa Anita, the Big Cap has attracted a well-matched field that will provide bettors with a difficult puzzle to solve.
Few of the starters can be thrown out at a glance.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Between them, Val Royal and Irish Prize won two of the nation's biggest prizes for turf milers in 2001.
On March 23, the connections of the two horses are hoping to conquer the rest of the world in the $2 million Dubai Duty Free in the Middle East. And on Saturday, they are using the $300,000 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita as a prep for that race.
But the Grade 2 Kilroe is more than just a stepping-stone to Dubai. The Kilroe has drawn an outstanding field of 12, several of whom are capable of upsetting the big two if they falter.
