SAN MATEO, Calif. - Ida, an improving filly who was third in her last start at Pleasanton, returns to the grass to head a field of eight in the $32,000 allowance feature at a mile at Bay Meadows Monday.
The race is for fillies and mares who have not won $3,000 other than maiden, claiming or starter.
FORT ERIE, Ont. - Owner-trainer Ted Dobbie believes that no horse on the grounds deserves to win a stakes race more than his 6-year-old mare, Is She Real. He also feels strongly that justice will be served Tuesday when his runner opposes five fillies and mares in the $50,000, 1 1/16-mile Lauries Dancer Stakes, a new entry on the Fort Erie stakes calendar.
FORT ERIE, Ont. - After serving as an assistant to Woodbine trainer Mike Keogh for several years, Robert Martin took over the training of Victor Deschenes's runners last August. Last Monday, the 31-year-old Martin saddled his first stakes winner when Golden Returns upset the heavy favorite, Tempered Appeal, in the Expedite Plus Stakes at Fort Erie.
When Allen Iwinski sends out a 2-year-old for its first race, the horse may run well. But Iwinski can almost guarantee that his juveniles will run even better the second time out.
That's why Iwinski was hardly surprised when Haunted Lass, a 2-year-old filly he trains for the Iwin99 partnership, trounced allowance foes by 5 1/4 lengths in her second lifetime start at Delaware Park. She improved by 20 points on the Beyer Speed Figure scale in that race, after finishing second in her debut against maidens 2 1/2 weeks earlier.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - When Arlington Park raised the Arlington Million's purse to $2 million last year it drew a field of seven, the smallest in the race's 18-year history. Apparently, this race is about more than cold cash. With its purse back down to $1 million, the Million attracted 13 pre-entries by the midnight deadline Friday night.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mark Casse is holding a very strong hand for Sunday's Ontario Debutante Stakes, and should win a large chunk of the $112,200 purse if he plays all his cards.
Casse entered four of the nine 2-year-old fillies in the six-furlong dash - Jealous Form, Fullup, Misty Expectation, and Ms. Forum. He said Thursday that he plans on running Jealous Form and Fullup, plus either Misty Expectation or Ms. Forum.
EDMONTON, Alberta - With purses at a record high, thanks largely to slot machine revenue, excitement is beginning to mount as the annual Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society yearling sale at the Northlands Sportex draws near.
Purses were increased to a $100,000 daily average midway through the Stampede Park meet during the spring and for the entire Northlands Park season.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Nureyev's Knight was an impressive debut winner over $25,000 maidens July 25 and will try to beat a tough group of seasoned 3-year-olds in a 6 1/2-furlong $50,000 optional race Sunday at Hastings Park. He might be good enough.
Trainer John Snow had Nureyev's Knight primed and ready for his debut and he scored a 3 3/4 length victory in a quick 1:17.58 for 6 1/2 furlongs. The step up to optional company is a big one and Snow isn't quite sure how Nureyev's Knight would respond to the challenge.
AUBURN, Wash. - At 127 pounds, Captain Steve tops a list of 30 horses weighted for the Aug. 19 running of the Grade 3 $250,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
Captain Steve is weighted five pounds above El Corredor, who is second on the list at 122 pounds. But neither of them is expected to run in the Mile. Nor is 120-pound third-highweight Performing Magic.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Of all the talented turf fillies and mares in trainer Christophe Clement's barn, Penny's Gold could be the best.
Since coming to this country from France, Penny's Gold, a daughter of Kingmambo, has gone 3 for 3, including a victory in the Grade 3 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April. Sunday, she makes her first start in four months when she runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Handicap on the turf at Saratoga. The Ballston Spa is run at 1 1/16 miles, a distance at which Penny's Gold is 2 for 2.
