There were several highlights over the weekend at the Fairmont Park, starting with Mike Gale's four winners Friday night. Gale is Fairmount's leading active jockey with nearly 1,800 wins. Gale kicked off the evening by winning both halves of a $33.40 daily double, with Penny One ($6.40) in the first and Adams Peak ($6.20) in the second. Gale then took the sixth aboard Delaneyimoutahere ($4.40) and the 10th with Rainbow's Rally ($5.40).
Kentucky invader Iffy is a major threat against the locals in Friday's $50,000 Prairie Meadows Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.
Iffy ships in for this six-furlong race off back-to-back come-from-behind scores at Ellis Park for trainer Joe Cain. A daughter of Is It True, Iffy began her career in a $30,000 maiden claiming race Aug. 4 and rallied from 12 lengths back to finish second, beaten a neck. She returned less than two weeks later in a six-furlong $50,000 maiden claimer and scored by three-quarters of a length.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - Friday night's card at Great Lakes Downs will showcase Michigan breeding with a series of six Sires Stakes, for the progeny of Michigan sires. Four of the six winners from the 2000 series will be back to defend their titles. Each race is worth an estimated $120,000.
Fastest qualifier Racing Winner goes after her fourth straight victory when she starts in the Grade 3 $79,600 Altoona Derby on Friday night at Prairie Meadows.
Racing Winner, owned by Jerry Windham, dominated the three trials when she sped to a 3 1/4-length victory as the 9-5 favorite. Her time of 19.74 seconds for the 400 yards was the top qualifying time by .30 seconds, a huge margin in Quarter Horse racing.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In a span of 33 minutes last October, trainer Nick Zito watched an okay autumn afternoon at Belmont Park become unforgettable.
The first five horses Zito sent out on Belmont's Breeders' Cup Preview Day card last Oct. 14 all finished in the money, including a second- and third-place finish in the Grade 1 Frizette. Then came the day's showcase Grade 1 events, the Champagne and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Officer, the leading juvenile colt in the country, arrived Tuesday afternoon in New York, where he will head what is expected to be a five-horse field in Saturday's Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.
Officer, who is undefeated in four starts, was accompanied by groom Rudy Silva and was bedded down in the barn of John Terranova, just two stalls down from Heavyweight Champ, one of Officer's main rivals in the Champagne.
Only three others - Jump Start, Saarland, and Thunder Days - are expected for the $500,000 Champagne, for juvenile colts at
1 1/16 miles.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It is a handicapping question to which there is no definitive answer - back class or current form? The issue is relevant Thursday at Santa Anita, as stakes winner Jeweled Pirate returns from an eight-month layoff against racing-fit Nashoba.
Nine fillies and mares entered the seventh-race feature, a three-other-than allowance at a mile on grass. Jeweled Pirate has not raced since upsetting Lazy Slusan Feb. 3 in the Pro Or Con Handicap for California-breds, but her workouts indicate trainer Ray Bell has her cranked.
CHICAGO - File the following under "too good to be true."
A horse skips an allowance condition, say from a maiden win to a second-level allowance race, and wins anyway. Now the horse can come back at exactly the same allowance condition, often against horses he just defeated. His edge is there for all to see.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Elegant Ridge has the ability, but chronic hoof problems have kept her from showing her best, said Barry Irwin, whose Team Valor Stables owns the 6-year-old mare.
Irwin is hoping Elegant Ridge's foot ailments are a thing of the past when she runs at Belmont Park in Thursday's featured eighth race, a third-level allowance event for filly and mare grass runners.
The 1 1/16-mile Widener turf race drew 13 runners, including one
also-eligible and two main-track only entrants. The purse is $48,000.