LEXINGTON, Ky. - Before she tried some of the best turf fillies and mares in North America, Playact was going good. Trainer Christophe Clement had sent her out to one win and three seconds in her first four starts after arriving from France, but then she took a thrashing behind her much-heralded stablemate England's Legend in the Grade 2 New York Handicap in July.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Roger Attfield-trained uncoupled duo of Poetically and Extend both have a shot in Sunday's $112,200 La Lorgnette Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
Poetically, last year's Canadian champion 2-year-old filly, has suffered through the sophomore jinx this season while going winless in five starts. She was sidelined by a blood disorder in the spring, which caused her to miss important stakes such as the Labatt Woodbine Oaks and Queen's Plate.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It is the perfect weekend for a 3-year-old turf filly to make her U.S. debut. The cream of the division shipped to Keeneland for Saturday's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II, leaving the $100,000 Harold C. Ramser Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita ripe for a well-regarded import.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It has been 15 years since Irish Bear accomplished the rare feat of winning both the B.C. Derby and Premier's in the same season. Despite the difficulty of winning both races, Fancy As figures to be a heavy favorite when he takes on older rivals in Sunday's Grade 3 $100,000 Premier's at Hastings Park. Six others have entered the 1 3/8-mile feature, but if Fancy As runs his race, they are probably running for second money.
As a racehorse, Judge T C was an above-average runner, winning the Grade 3 Rebel Stakes at age 3, the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes and Grade 3 Clark Handicap as a 4-year-old, and a pair of Grade 3 handicaps, the Essex and the Kentucky Cup Classic, in his final year of racing at age 5.
Not coincidentally, all his graded stakes success came at distances of either 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 miles. Judge T C appears to have passed on his penchant for route racing to his offspring.
MIAMI - Sejm's Madness, who has run well without winning several times this year, will be favored against nine rivals in Sunday's $35,000 Bill of Rights Handicap.
Sejm's Madness has held his own with some of the top grass horses in Florida and New York this year, at distances ranging from five furlongs to a mile. Yet his only victory in eight tries came via a stewards' disqualification in Gulfstream Park's Yankee Affair Stakes.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After closing out his 2-year-old season last year with an impressive win in the Ascot Graduation and the title of champion 2-year-old in British Columbia, Diglett faced great expectations heading into his 3-year-old year. While he has won two stakes and has earned more than $100,000, his trainer, Gary Demorest, considers Diglett's 2001 season "a little disappointing."
ARCADIA, Calif. - The racing career of Lazy Slusan, who won two Grade 1 races this year, appears to be over.
On Friday, owner-trainer John Dolan said he was leaning toward not pre-entering Lazy Slusan on Monday for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park on Oct. 27. Regardless of whether she runs in that race, she is scheduled to be sold at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale on Nov. 5.
On Oct. 7, Lazy Slusan finished ninth of 10 in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, a key prep to the Breeders' Cup Distaff. "She threw in a clunker," Dolan said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Balto Star, who has won on both dirt and turf this year, will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Mile on grass, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday. The 3-year-old gelding will also be pre-entered for the $2 million Turf, but the Mile will be made first preference.
Balto Star has raced only once on turf, winning a money allowance race at a mile last month at Saratoga.
SAN MATEO, Calif. ? Quiet Heart, second in similar conditions last out Sept. 23, may rate a slight edge in a wide-open feature at Bay Meadows Sunday.
Quiet Heart was close up throughout that mile turf race and wound up second best behind Miss Ng In Action. She was also second in a similar spot here during the San Mateo Fair when she lacked room in the late stages and was beaten only a neck.
Sunday's featured eighth race is run at 1 1/16 miles on turf for first-level allowance runners. It carries a purse of $32,000.