Rusty Spur ran a great race, but was no match for Wrangler when the two met in last month's Grade 2 General George. Rusty Spur, at 27-1, finished second, 2 3/4 lengths behind favored Wrangler, after setting a quick pace in the seven-furlong race
The good news for Rusty Spur is that he won't have to face Wrangler, one of the country's hottest sprinters, in Sunday's $50,000 Endless Surprise Stakes at Laurel Park.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The World Throughbred Championship races for 2-year-olds will be lengthened to 1 1/8 miles for the 2002 runnings next fall at Arlington Park. The change, approved in a Breeders' Cup board meeting held at the Diplomat-Westin Hotel in Hallandale Beach on Friday, is only for the 2002 runnings.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Talk about your March Madness. Here it is, seven weeks until the first Saturday in May, and the unwieldy nature of the 2002 Kentucky Derby picture is daring to make the NCAA basketball tournament look as wild and disorderly as Martha Stewart's living room.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Wrangler is well spotted and well drawn to continue his winning ways Saturday when he meets six rivals in the $100,000 Toboggan Handicap at Aqueduct.
Wrangler, who has won three straight races including the General George Handicap at Laurel Park, drew the outside post in the seven-horse field and is the starting co-highweight at 119 pounds along with Affirmed Success.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Even though she gives up experience to all of her rivals, Ask Me No Secrets faced company in her last race that points her out as the horse to beat in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Oaklawn Breeders' Cup at Oaklawn Park.
The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares is the final local prep for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom, and for the first time it will share a program with the Grade 3, $100,000 Razorback Handicap, a race that will produce starters for the Grade 1, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap.
Both the Apple Blossom and Oaklawn Handicap will be run April 6.
ARCADIA, Calif. - One horse had a bad trip last time. Another was racing on unfamiliar ground. Denon and Straight Flush return to preferred conditions Saturday at Santa Anita, where both are qualified to win the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Nine older horses entered the $250,000 race, including consistent California-bred Continental Red; New York shipper Coyote Lakes; the mare Keemoon; lukewarm contenders Ringaskiddy and El Gran Papa; and longshots Speedy Pick and Our Main Main.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Florida Derby may not be the only Kentucky Derby prep on Saturday's 13-race program at Gulfstream Park. Not if Ethan Man runs to expectations in the $150,000 Swale Stakes, a seven-furlong dash that drew only five starters and tops the Florida Derby undercard, along with the $100,000 Equalize and One Dreamer handicaps for Florida-breds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It will be easy to spot the momentum in the San Felipe Stakes on Sunday. The gray 3-year-old U S S Tinosa is the only expected starter entering the Derby prep off a win. And Kent Desormeaux, U S S Tinosa's rider, is currently one of the hottest jockeys at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Squirtle Squirt will be out of action for at least three months to recuperate from athroscopic surgery on his left knee. The surgery is scheduled for this week.
Squirtle Squirt finished second in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap on Jan. 27, and was training toward the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 13 at Aqueduct. Trainer Bobby Frankel said the setback is not considered serious.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - He says he didn't do it on purpose.
Even though it looks as if Smooth Jazz became a last-minute entry in the Florida Derby with the apparent intention of adding considerable pace to the race, that just isn't the case, insists trainer Todd Pletcher.
"They paid a lot of money for this horse," said Pletcher, referring to the recent private purchase of Smooth Jazz by owner Michael Tabor and his advisers. "They wouldn't just use him like that, because they think so highly of him."
