MIAMI - Tropical Storm Michelle, forecast to hit south Florida this weekend, could have a lot to say about the outcome of Saturday's $50,000, one-mile Powder Break Handicap. The race is scheduled for the turf but will more than likely end up being decided over a wet main track.
The uncertainty of the conditions for the Powder Break resulted in 19 fillies and mares being entered for the race including old nemeses Castlebrook and Coolbythepool, both of whom are far better on dirt than turf.
Hoosier Park plans to cut 10 programs from its live Thoroughbred racing schedule next year, according to a dates application it filed on Thursday, as part of a drastic reduction in live racing at the Indiana track.
Hoosier applied for only 120 live racing days in its application, down from 193 in 2001. Most of the cuts will be felt on the Standardbred side - Hoosier applied for only 60 days of live Standardbred racing, down from 123 in 2001.
PHOENIX - Hangonslewpyhangon hadn't run since April 7, but with a fast-closing third in a recent comeback sprint issued a warning: He is going to be tough to beat in Saturday's $30,000 Walter Cluer Handicap at Turf Paradise.
Hangonslewpyhangon heads a field of 10 in the 7 1/2-furlong race on turf. He is not the highweight, carrying 120 pounds, while Eagleton gets in at 122. But he looms the horse to beat. Why? Because he has stakes wins on the Turf Paradise turf course at about this distance, including last year's Blaze O'Brien and Kokopelli.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Skiffington has some interesting propositions to think about as he tries to determine where next to run Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf runner-up Spook Express.
While Skiffington is leaning toward running her in the $500,000, Grade 1 Matriarch at Hollywood Park on Nov. 25, he was contacted by officials of the Japan Racing Association, who inquired if Skiffington would be interested in running Spook Express against the boys in the $3.9 million Japan Cup on the same day.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Short on experience but long on raw ability, Fragrant Cloud has emerged as the favorite for the $125,000 California Cup Juvenile Fillies on Saturday at Santa Anita. There is good reason.
"I don't know if she has the experience of the other ones, but she's got talent," trainer Paco Gonzalez said, adding "I don't think the distance will be a problem."
ARCADIA, Calif. - With retirement a possibility at the end of the year, Feverish has a score to settle in Saturday's $150,000 California Cup Matron at Santa Anita.
Last year, Feverish and Queenie Belle dueled through the stretch in the Matron, which Queenie Belle won by a nose.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The milestones arrived in bunches for after his hard-fought victory in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park last weekend.
With a glowing and epic stretch run against Arc de Triomphe winner Sakhee, Tiznow became the first repeat and two-time winner of the nation's richest race, and the first reigning Horse of the Year to win the Classic. After two losses and a lengthy layoff, Tiznow's victory put him back in the running for a second award as Horse of the Year.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Four months ago, Ceeband beat Squirtle Squirt at odds of 44-1 in the Grade 2 Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Squirtle Squirt went on to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Belmont Park last weekend, while Ceeband spent the summer and early part of the fall successfully proving that the Triple Bend was not a fluke result.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The California Cup Mile would seem odd without Native Desert.
On Saturday, for the fourth consecutive year, Native Desert starts in the $175,000 California Cup Mile at Santa Anita. He is the likely favorite as the stronger half of an entry with Ringaskiddy, the winner of the Quicken Tree Stakes at Hollywood Park last spring.
Native Desert's form shows he is as sharp as he was when he finished third in the 1998 Mile, won the 1999 running, and finished a strong second in 2000. (He was also eighth in the 1997 Cal Cup Sprint).
ARCADIA, Calif. - Fourteen fillies and mares will scream down the hill in the $150,000 California Cup Distaff (race 6) on Saturday at Santa Anita, including a filly who enters the 6 1/2-furlong turf race as possibly the most profitable gamble on the Cal Cup card.