HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In 1988, trainer Ben Perkins Jr. had the dominant 3-year-old filly on the grounds with On to Royalty, who won four races at Gulfstream Park that year, including three graded stakes.
Fourteen years later, Perkins has another fast filly from the same family, Forest Heiress, who may have the ability to dominate the 3-year-old filly division this meet. Forest Heiress heads a seven-horse field entered for the $100,000 Old Hat Stakes Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS - Lake Lady drowned her opposition in Kentucky last fall, winning her last two starts by a combined 20 lengths. Now it's time to see how she swims in deeper waters.
With seemingly limitless potential, Lake Lady makes her stakes debut Sunday in the $75,000 Thelma Stakes, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies at Fair Grounds. Lake Lady faces 10 rivals, including the Pontalba Stakes winner Flick, the only horse to have beaten Lake Lady in her three-start career.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - The 2001 parimutuel handle at Thistledown, including wagering on simulcasts, totaled $237,348,143, the highest in track history. The average daily all-sources handle on Thistledown's live races was $527,202, up 16 percent from 2000's $454,251. The track held 187-day meets in both years.
NEW ORLEANS - Apparently, Private Emblem is just as good on turf as he is on dirt. Third to two promising colts in the $150,000 Houston Texan Juvenile last month, Private Emblem made his grass debut Friday in the $75,000 Black Gold Handicap at Fair Grounds and beat Royalton by a head.
By the moderately successful stallion Our Emblem, who is not known as a grass influence, Private Emblem comes from a turf-loving family. His dam, Merion Miss, has now produced four horses who raced, and all have won on turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Just as she's about to be retired, Batique is reaching peak form.
For the second straight time in a Grade 3 stakes, Batique settled comfortably off a slow pace then came storming down the lane to win. Friday, Batique took charge in the final furlong under Jorge Chavez and drew off to a 2 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Honey Fox Handicap run over a soft turf course and before 5,852 fans at chilly Gulfstream Park.
My Sweet Westly rallied for second, a neck in front of Silver Bandana.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla - The older handicap division is stacked here this winter, and several of the big horses will launch their campaigns in next Saturday's $100,000 Skip Away Handicap.
Among the prospective starters for the Grade 3 Skip Away are 2000 Preakness winner Red Bullet, who ended his abbreviated 2001 season with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile; Traditionally, winner of the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap; and Sir Bear, a multiple Grade 1 winner including the 2001 Gulfstream Park Handicap.
NEW ORLEANS - Unraced since finishing second in a head-to-head duel with You in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes on Oct. 6, * returned to the racetrack late last month to begin preparing for a 2002 campaign.
Cashier's Dream began jogging daily around Christmas, and the pace of her training will accelerate in coming weeks.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Mike Machowsky on Friday all but predicted victory for Paxtecum in Sunday's $75,000 Hill Rise Stakes at Santa Anita.
After winning two starts on turf in the fall at Santa Anita, Paxtecum finished fourth under Jose Validivia Jr. in the Grade 3 Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park Nov. 24.
Machowsky blamed the soggy ground for the loss and expects a better result against a full field in the Hill Rise, run over a mile on turf.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - The 2001 Ruthless was the starting point for Xtra Heat's 3-year-old campaign, and her win there was followed by eight more stakes victories, a feat that could earn her an Eclipse Award next month.
Five 3-year-old fillies begin their 2002 campaign in Sunday's $75,000-added Ruthless at Aqueduct, but it would be presumptuous at this point to assume any them can fill Xtra Heat's shoes.