Lone Star Park near Dallas has shuffled several of its stakes for 2002 by moving its richest race, the newly graded $500,000 Lone Star Derby, to a later date; replacing the $100,000 Mesquite Mile with the $150,000 Stonerside Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies May 25; and putting Breeders' Cup funds into its season-ending races for 2-year-olds, the $100,000 Middleground and $100,000 Silver Spur.
NEW ORLEANS - The unlikely partnership between Hallowed Dreams and her rider, Sylvester Carmouche, apparently has ended. Hallowed Dreams's co-owner and trainer, Lloyd Romero, said Carmouche would be replaced when Hallowed Dreams makes her next start.
MIAMI - Ing Ing should find the competition a lot more to her liking than in her U.S. debut when facing a full field of 3-year-old filly turf specialists in Saturday's $100,000 Frances A. Genter Stakes. The Genter shares top billing on the 12-race Calder program with the $100,000 Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap, a seven-furlong dash for older colts and geldings.
ALBANY, Calif. - Saturday's Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields marks Round 2 in what could be a budding rivalry between two of northern California's better 2-year-olds.
Cappuchino, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, will try to win his second straight over Wild Celebration, trained by Bill Morey. Round 1 came in the six-furlong Golden Bear Stakes on Nov. 24 here, when Wild Celebration unexpectedly found himself on the lead and couldn't hold off Cappuchino down the stretch.
Until Crafty Shaw suffered a stress fracture in the April 14 Arkansas Derby, the Mackin family of Louisville thought they might just be a cab ride away from the Kentucky Derby.
The Mackins, whose horses run under the red-and-black silks of the Lucky Seven Stable, are the longtime franchise holders of Yellow Cab Co. in Louisville. Crafty Shaw, who captured the main Arkansas Derby prep, was sidelined by the injury, depriving Ginny Mackin and her five grown children of their first Derby horse.
In their first and only meeting, Penny Pit ran off and hid from favored Gracility in a Nov. 20 allowance route at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Ill.
On Saturday, in considerably different circumstances, Gracility will attempt to turn the tables on Penny Pit in the Hawthorne feature, the $100,000 Illinois Breeders' Debutante.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - John Q's Winner, who captured the Best of Ohio Sprint Championship here in October, is the 121-pound starting highweight in Saturday's six-furlong, $25,000 Samuel Handicap at Beulah Park.
John Q's Winner has won two of his 10 starts this year for trainer Rod Madrigal Sr. but has been facing tougher competition than he meets in the Samuel, which is restricted to horses who have started at the Beulah Park fall meeting. Regular rider Scott Saito will be in from his Thistledown base for the mount on Saturday.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Paynes Bay, a $1.6 million yearling purchase, dominated a first-level allowance field in his initial start around two turns at Aqueduct last month.
Now Paynes Bay, a well-bred son of Mr. Prospector, makes his inner-track debut in Friday's eighth race and is the horse to beat if he duplicates his last effort.
Eleven 3-year-olds and older horses entered the second-level allowance race, which will be run at 1 1/16 miles and is the feature of the nine-race card.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Yougottawanna has already slayed a giant this fall with his victory over the once-mighty Officer in the California Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.
On Saturday, *, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer in northern California, returns to the South for the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity, hoping to conquer a field led by Siphonic, the winner of the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland who was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
NEW ORLEANS - Things are starting to pick up at Fair Grounds. There was some good maiden action here Monday, and Thursday's card has a very solid center in the form of a third-level, optional claiming sprint, and a two-turn allowance race for 2-year-olds.
The optional claimer, race nine, is carded for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, but rain is forecast here for Wednesday and Thursday, and a switch to the main track would come as no surprise. That might be appreciated by the connections of the six entrants: between them, they have made four starts on grass.