HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Raging Fever, who missed most of her 3-year-old season because of injury, began her 4-year-old campaign smartly on Friday, rolling to a relatively easy two-length score in the $100,000, Grade 3 The First Lady Handicap* at Gulfstream Park.
Cat Cay, the 3-2 favorite, rallied from last to be second, 4 3/4 lengths ahead of Mandy's Gold in third. Elvi Gamble, Miss Inquistive, Curious Treasures, and Vague Memory completed the order of finish.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. could breathe just a little easier on Friday after watching Best of the Rest work five furlongs over his home base at Calder to remain on target for
the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 9.
Best of the Rest bruised a foot while finishing a disappointing fourth in Calder's Fred W. Hooper Handicap on Dec. 29, then suffered some filling in his hind ankle when banging a stall wall several days later. But despite the minor setbacks Plesa never felt his star's appearance in the Donn was in jeopardy.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Monday at Santa Anita typically draws sprinters chasing a big prize and fillies using the seven-furlong race as a springboard to longer and richer races in coming months.
Ayanna, a two-time stakes winner in 2001 for Triple AAA Ranch and Kory Owens, fits firmly into the sprint category. After the Santa Ynez, Owens is hoping that Ayanna deserves a chance in longer races such as the $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile on Feb. 10.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Bill McLean is walking around Golden Gate Fields without his constant companion this weekend.
It seemed as if McLean was lugging a gorilla on his back in recent weeks as his losing streak at the current meeting grew and grew, eventually reaching 0 for 54.
McLean's woes finally ended in Thursday's final race when Kissing Cobra won a $4,000 claiming sprint that wasn't as easy as the final two-length margin indicated.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Sunday's $100,000-added Pepsi Cola Handicap at Sunland Park, a six-furlong race restricted to New Mexico-bred 3-year-olds, shapes up as a showdown between the multiple stakes winning Star Smasher and the upstart Urlacher.
The 11-horse field includes two couplings, one of which is a three-horse entry from the barn of trainer Cliff Lambert Sr.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The relative ease in which Siphonic has risen to the top of the California 3-year-old division has caught trainer David Hofmans by surprise.
"He does it all," Hofmans said. "He's very willing. He waits for the rider to give commands. I hope I don't get in his way with my training."
So far, Siphonic and Hofmans have received stellar marks. With three wins in four starts, and a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Siphonic is a top contender for the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Betting prep races like Saturday's $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park can be tricky business. Especially when the two likely favorites, Harlan's Holiday and Nokoma, are using the race as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things, not only later in the meet but also hopefully on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - It has been 11 months since Balto Star ran on the inner track and won a first-level allowance race by 12 1/4 lengths, an effort that propelled the gelding to back-to-back wins in a pair of Grade 2's, the Spiral and Arkansas Derby.
Balto Star returns to the inner track, where he is 2 for 3, in Saturday's $100,000-added Aqueduct Handicap and carries a 118 pounds as the highweight in his 4-year-old debut. Balto Star, the likely favorite, meets seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Aqueduct, a Grade 3.
Mr Ross has made $950,015 the hard way, but things should get easier for him Saturday night when he tries to become a millionaire in the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
* will start as the odds-on favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race, which has drawn seven, including Rare Cure, a winner of two stakes in two starts at the distance; L.A. Spider Legs, who placed in four stakes last year; and Storm Cruiser, a $14,000 claimer turned restricted stakes winner last year in Canada.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Bush said he doesn't want to analyze his hot streak, which has yielded five winners from nine starters at Aqueduct's inner track meet, too closely.
Bush said he's not looking for the whys behind the streak, which has produced some very healthy mutuel payouts, he just wants the winners to keep on coming.
"If I knew I'd probably mess it up, so it's better I don't know," Bush said with a laugh.
