ARCADIA, Calif. - Ron McAnally and Bruce Headley will try to beat each other Sunday in the Grade 2 El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita. But going in, the trainers agree on one key aspect of this 1 1/16-mile race for 4-year-old fillies.
"The pace won't be as fast as last time," said McAnally, who starts likely favorite, Affluent.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Those who have followed turf racing at Gulfstream Park this winter know the course is extremely biased toward closers. The problem in handicapping Sunday's $100,000 Mac Diarmida Handicap is the majority of horses in the field are late-running sorts.
The Grade 3 Mac Diarmida, run at 1 3/8 miles, drew an overflow field of 17 runners. Only 12 will be permitted to start.
PORTLAND - Ransome Road will attempt to build upon his impressive last-out victory in the OTBA Stallion Stakes when he takes on seven other 3-year-olds in Sunday's Beaver State Stakes at Portland Meadows.
The 5 1/2-furlong Beaver State is an open event, and therein lies the challenge for Ransome Road, an Oregon-bred son of Cisco Road who has been meeting restricted company since winning his debut here on Nov. 11.
NEW ORLEANS - With the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap looming on the horizon, what's the point of pushing a horse too hard this weekend? So, it seems, goes the thinking of horsemen with top older handicappers in their barn. Sunday's $75,000 Diplomat Way Handicap at Fair Grounds drew a competitive field of nine, but none of the entrants, at this point in their career, would rank among the best handicappers in the region.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Trainer Bobby Ribaudo said that running in a stakes off a maiden win isn't something that he normally would do.
But Ribaudo will take that route with My Cousin Matt* in Monday's $75,000-added Fred "Cappy" Capossela at Aqueduct.
A couple of factors convinced Ribaudo the timing is right to run My Cousin Matt in the Capossela, a sprint for 3-year-olds. Ribaudo likes the fact a short field is anticipated and said My Cousin Matt's six career starts have given the gelding essential racing experience.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Sunday's Beaver State Stakes at Portland Meadows will match OTBA Stallion Stakes winner Ransome Road and Oregon Futurity hero Fit to Bet, but it won't exactly match the two stakes winners on equal terms.
Trainer L.A. "Hammy" Williams, who sent out Ransome Road, a Cisco Road gelding, to his front-running score in the six-furlong Stallion Stakes on Jan. 5, is more than eager to run him back in the 5 1/2-furlong Beaver State. But Jack Root, who owns Fit to Bet in partnership with his son Brad and his wife, trainer Cookie Root, is decidedly reluctant.
Jockey Joe Judice was listed in stable condition at St. Joesph's Regional Health Center in Hot Springs, Ark., on Friday, one day after he suffered a compound fracture to his left shinbone during training hours at Oaklawn Park.
Judice, second to Calvin Borel in last year's Oaklawn standings, is expected to miss at least two months of the upcoming meet, which starts Jan. 25. He was injured when he was kicked by a passing horse while taking his mount to the starting gate.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Hialeah Park has filed for racing dates with the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering for the 2003 season even though it chose not run a meet in 2002 after the deregulation of racing dates in the state. Hialeah applied to run from Feb. 1 through May 15.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Apprentice rider Kris Prather has decided to leave Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., for the 54-day meet that begins Friday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Prather, 23, a finalist for a 2001 Eclipse Award despite having missed about eight months with injuries, said she wanted to "try somewhere different" after having been dominant at Turfway.
"I've been labeled a Turfway rider," said Prather. "I don't have anything left to prove there. Hopefully I'll be able to show that horses will run for me at Oaklawn, too."
