ANDERSON, Ind. - Neon Shadow bids for a repeat in the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Mile Stakes at Hoosier Park Saturday, and he's coming off the same prep race.
Trained by Carl Bowman for owners Tommy and Bonnie Hamilton, Neon Shadow last raced Oct. 12 in the Warfield Stakes at Keeneland where he finished a strong second. Before winning last year's inaugural running, he ran third in the Warfield. Lonnie Meche will ride from post 2.
A field of seven fillies and mares will lineup Saturday for the $55,000-added Camilla Urso Handicap at Golden Gate. The six-furlong dash, the third race on a nine-race program, has drawn a strong cast.
Creaseinherjeans was assigned topweight of 120 pounds, but the Jeff Bonde-trained entry of Hall of Gold and De Godddaughter might draw the most betting support. Hall of Gold is looking for a stakes hat trick in the Camilla Urso, and a repeat of her last performance would make her very tough to beat.
PHOENIX - Trainer Eric Kruljac probably has mixed feelings going into Saturday's $30,000 Paradise Valley Handicap at Turf Paradise. He sends the entry of Resolve and R. Baggio, which will probably be favored for the 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-olds.
On the one hand, Kruljac's horses have much going for them. On the other hand, there are reasons to think neither may run his best race.
John Salzman's phone must have been ringing off the hook Wednesday afternoon. Just about every jockey agent in the country probably tried to contact Salzman, the trainer of Xtra Heat ( ), when he did not name a rider on his standout filly sprinter at entry time for Saturday's $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Friday's featured eighth race, a 5 1/2-furlong race for $4,000 claiming 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races, illustrates the difficulties that handicappers have faced early in the Portland Meadows meeting.
There simply aren't many common points of reference among the nine contestants, as only three have started at the meeting. Three others made their last start at Hastings Park, while the remainder last started at Emerald Downs, Los Alamitos, or Kalispell in Montana.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - An enticing rematch between the first two finishers in the Breeders' Cup Distaff appears set, as trainer Dallas Stewart has tentatively committed the Distaff winner, Unbridled Elaine, to run against the runner-up, Spain, in the Nov. 22 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Stewart said Unbridled Elaine still had to exit a Thursday work in good shape, but he expects all to go well. "She hasn't had a bad day since she ran," he said.
In an effort to attract top 3-year-olds to its centerpiece race, Sportsman's Park will award a $1 million bonus to any horse who wins next year's Illinois Derby and then any of the three Triple Crown races, track management has announced.
The $500,000 Illinois Derby, a Grade 2 race, will have its 45th running on April 6. It is the richest race of the 2002 meet at Sportsman's Park in Cicero, Ill.
The Illinois Derby traditionally was run after the Kentucky Derby, but last year was moved to early April because of a change in racing dates for Chicago-area tracks.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Wooden Phone, who upset Tiznow in Santa Anita's Strub Stakes earlier this year, returned from a 6 1/2-month layoff on Wednesday and scored a game victory over stablemate Pie N Burger in the second race at Hollywood Park.
Wooden Phone was on or near the lead every step of the way, and though trainer Bob Baffert said after the race that he feared Wooden Phone "might be a little short," Wooden Phone valiantly held off Pie N Burger to win by a half-length.
Bold Roberta, a game winner in a similar spot last out at Santa Anita, heads a field of 10 older fillies and mares in Friday's featured seventh race, a six-furlong, $32,000 allowance.
Bold Roberta's Santa Anita win was her first of the 2001 season. She sped the six furlongs in 1:09.80 to defeat Our Here Tiz by one length. The 3-year-old Bold Roberta, trained by Carmela Anderson, also raced well in her previous effort at Santa Anita, finishing third beaten just two lengths.
ANDERSON, Ind. - From a handicapping standpoint, and for hunch players, there couldn't be a more clear-cut favorite for Friday's $70,000-added Miss Indiana Stakes than . . . Miss Indiana.
Friday's six-furlong feature drew a field of 12 2-year-old Indiana-bred fillies. Miss Indiana, trained by Steve Asmussen, stands out as the prohibitive favorite.