Darlin Dixie, who returned from a five-month layoff to win the $50,000 Ricks Memorial Handicap on turf in September, switches back to the main track Friday night in the $25,000 Carris Memorial Handicap.
The one-mile race for fillies and mares has drawn six others, including Runaway Magic, who finished third in the Ricks Memorial, and Western Delight, who earlier this meet won the Remington Park Oaks for trainer Randy Oberlander.
ANDERSON, Ind. - With 27 days remaining in this 70-day meet, Stanley Roberts has a hammerlock on the trainer standings. Roberts saddled nine winners from 18 starts last week and holds a 34-12 edge over Gary Patrick.
Roberts is poised to eclipse the meet record of 39 wins, set a year ago by Ray Stifano. Roberts checked in second last year with 36 wins, making him the track's all-time leading trainer, with 86 wins here.
The Milltown starter handicap series continues Friday night, with the distances getting significantly longer for the final three races.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - In the closest race she has been involved in here, Born to Dance was selected the Great Lakes Downs horse of the year. Secret Romeo, the champion 3-year-old colt, was a close second in the voting. The 130-day meet closed Wednesday night.
Born to Dance was born to run, and she proved it with five victories here, four of them stakes, for trainer James Jackson and owner Rosendo Parra.
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Owner William Stiritz, trainer Jimmy Zook, and jockey Gary Kurek combined for back-to-back wins Saturday night. They won with Chasseur's Tresor ($31.60) in the sixth and Saint Clair ($5.60) in the seventh. The same connections scored in Tuesday's $15,000 Pleasant Colony Handicap when W W Robin de Hood ($4.60) won for the fifth time this year.
Trainer Frank Randazzo Jr. saddled three winners on Tuesday's card. The hat trick gives Randazzo 47 wins on the season, good for fourth place in the local trainer standings.
Native Heir is often involved in photo finishes. So even though he had to duel with Turbotaxman throughout the stretch of last Saturday's $50,000 Blue and Grey Stakes at Charles Town, Native Heir's half-length advantage at the wire of the seven-furlong race for West Virginia- and Virginia-breds was actually a relatively comfortable margin.
In his three previous starts, the 3-year-old Native Heir won by a neck at Pimlico and Saratoga, and was a neck short in a restricted stakes at Colonial Downs.
The Racing Association of Central Iowa has made an offer of $150 million to purchase Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino from Polk County.
RACI, a non-profit organization, manages the facility under a lease agreement with the county. Last month two of the five members of Polk County's board of supervisors expressed an interest in selling the Altoona, Iowa, track, prompting RACI's board of directors to make its offer. The track has yet to be officially put on the market.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Just about everybody in attendance seemed to have a good time when Portland Meadows opened its 2001-2002 meeting last weekend, but few could have enjoyed themselves more than breeder, owner, and trainer Pat Sonnen.
Sonnen sent out his homebred Tomtom Tommalice to resurrect his stakes career with a victory in Saturday's $11,375 Inaugural Handicap for older sprinters, then watched his recent claim Lammy post an authoritative win in Sunday's $8,400 Lassie Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Jockey Juan Gutierrez contributed flawless rides to both scores.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Maple Leaf Stakes generally is not considered a magnet for California-based runners.
But Saturday's renewal of the Grade 3, 1 1/4 mile race for fillies and mares has attracted just such an animal in Letter of Intent, a 4-year-old owned by Farfellow Farms Ltd. and trained by Bill Spawr.
Letter of Intent, a Kentucky-bred 4-year-old by Capote out of the Raise a Native mare Island Splendour, was a $240,000 purchase at the Barretts March sale in 1999.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Officer, the beaten odds-on favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park last Saturday, has been entered for Saturday's $125,000 California Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, and trainer Bob Baffert said there's a better than 50 percent chance that Officer will run.
Despite a cross-country trip from New York by Officer, Baffert said he was impressed with the way Officer galloped at Santa Anita on Wednesday, the day entries were drawn. He said that Officer will run without blinkers and will be ridden by Gary Stevens, who replaces Victor Espinoza.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Just when the California Cup Sprint appeared tailor-made for Ceeband, graded stakes winner Trailthefox jumped in and will try to become the fifth 3-year-old to win the $150,000, six-furlong race Saturday at Santa Anita. Trailthefox has not raced since August, but trainer Patrick Biancone said the layoff was by design.
"We've been pointing for this race," Biancone said. "He's training very well, I think he's back to what he was. He's a very nice horse, he seems to be the best 3-year-old Cal-bred, and now we are going against older horses."