ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ginger Gold will stake her claim for honors as Canada's champion 2-year-old filly this year in Saturday's $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine.
A field of eight Canadian-breds was drawn for the 56th running of the 1 1/16-mile event, which was won in 2000 by this year's Queen's Plate winner, Dancethruthedawn.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Triple stakes winner Dance Me Free looms an overwhelming favorite in Saturday's $50,000 Canadian Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles at Northlands Park, but the colt's trainer, Sid Gray, is a little worried
"It's been six weeks since he last raced," Gray said. "I just hope that I did the right things."
One of them is his decision against shipping Dance Me Free to Vancouver for the Jack Diamond Futurity, which could have helped to fill in the gap between races for the colt.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Thurston and Hoodoo Peak look like the ones to beat in an allowance race that drew 10 3-year-olds at Hastings Park this Saturday afternoon. The 1 1/16-mile event is restricted to horses who haven't won a stakes race in 2001 and who must also have started at least once at Hastings Park.
Trainer Buddy Delp, a longtime fixture in Maryland racing, will try to win his first Maryland Million race Saturday at Pimlico Race Course with Concerned Minister, who will be the favorite in the $200,000 Classic.
The 1 3/16-mile Classic is the richest race on the 11-race card, which gets under way at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
The Maryland Million races, worth more than $1 million in purse money, are restricted to the progeny of Maryland-based and nominated stallions.
ARCADIA, Calif. - An audible by jockey Chris McCarron helped trainer Paco Gonzalez time a workout by the 2-year-old star Came Home on Thursday at Santa Anita.
Because of a dense fog that settled on the racetrack shortly after 8 a.m., visibility was limited. As a result, McCarron revived an old method he used in the 1970's to alert Gonzalez when the workout began.
It isn't for adventure that high-win-percentage trainer Anthony Dutrow is shipping Native Heir to The Meadowlands from his Maryland base for Saturday's $50,000 Matt Scudder Stakes.
Native Heir has six wins in 10 career starts, plus two seconds and two thirds, for the top earnings in the field of 12 entered in the Scudder, for 3-year-olds. But this will be Native Heir's turf debut, and his dam, Mary Had a Lot, was 0 for 7 lifetime on the grass.
The $60,000 that Chauffe au Rouge earned for his win in the $100,000 Texas Hall of Fame Stakes last Saturday night at Retama Park near San Antonio is being withheld by the Texas Racing Commission pending the outcome of an investigation into whether the horse actually is an accredited Texas-bred.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Heading into the final eight weeks of the Woodbine meeting, trainer Reade Baker's outfit has just one stakes victory.
But that count could change dramatically over the next three cards, as Baker will send out contenders in Saturday's Princess Elizabeth, Sunday's La Lorgnette, and Wednesday's Deputy Minister.
Gonetofarr will be looking to get the ball rolling for Baker in the $250,000 Princess Elizabeth, a 1 1/16-mile race for Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies.
OCALA, Fla. - As an inventor, Arthur I. Appleton's innovations range from a widely used patent for automobile seat belts to an acclaimed steak sauce. His Appleton Electric Company wired the Superdome in New Orleans. And through the years, he has campaigned a formidable stable of racehorses, including My Gallant, Jolie's Halo, and Forbidden Apple.
MIAMI - Amy Tarrant had already attended four 2-year-old sales and been outbid on several horses she had fancied when Bold World came into the ring during the Ocala Breeders' sales in April. Tarrant and her trainer, Ron Taylor, had pinpointed Bold World, a Fortunate Prospect filly, as far and away the best prospect at the sale, and this time she was determined to come away with the winning bid.