ARCADIA, Calif. - Habibti stayed home, which is unwelcome news for her six rivals in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Sunday at Santa Anita.
Bob Baffert considered running her in next weekend's Frizette at Belmont Park after Habibti's dazzling win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, but opted for the $250,000 Oak Leaf.
The mile race came up weaker than the Frizette, and gives the light-framed Habibti an extra week before the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Gary Stevens rides at Santa Anita on Sunday and Wednesday, but those may be his only appearances in California until after the Breeders' Cup is run at Belmont Park on
Oct. 27.
According to his agent, Tony Matos, Stevens is booked to ride at Keeneland and Belmont Park next weekend, and will remain at Belmont Park through the Breeders' Cup.
"We probably won't see California until after the Breeders' Cup," Matos said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - City Zip, a multiple graded stakes winner on dirt who has never raced on grass, is being considered for Saturday's $200,000 Kelso Handicap on turf, which would be a possible prelude to a start in the Breeders' Cup Mile, trainer Linda Rice said Friday.
City Zip galloped on Belmont Park's turf course on Thursday and is scheduled to breeze over it in the next few days, Rice said. The Kelso is a Grade 2 race run at one mile on the turf. If City Zip doesn't run there, he will most likely run in the Forest Hills at six furlongs on dirt the following day.
ELMONT, N.Y. - When trainer Mike Ferraro decided to enter both
Smokieisabandit and Shesastonecoldfox in the Sept. 3 New York Breeders' Futurity at Finger Lakes, jockey John Grabowski decided to flip a coin to determine which one he would ride.
Unfortunately for Grabowski, the coin toss landed him on the 2-year-old colt Smokieisabandit, who finished fifth behind the filly Shesastonecoldfox, under John Davila Jr.
After Macho Uno held off Point Given to capture the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall, more than a few horseplayers were convinced he would win the Kentucky Derby this year.
Unfortunately for owner Frank Stronach and trainer Joe Orseno, a chance at the Derby never materialized. Macho Uno, who was voted a divisional Eclipse Award off his Breeders' Cup score, was out of action for nearly eight months until returning in July at Saratoga, where he began a late-season campaign that could ultimately result in two derby wins.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If you weren't aware of the date, you might confuse Saturday's $750,000 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park with the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, which will be run four weeks later at the same track over the same distance.
The Grade 1 Flower Bowl has drawn a powerful field of seven, including European star Lailani, Beverly D. winner England's Legend, and Diana winner Starine.
Daily Racing Form's Mike Watchmaker has made Lailani the
9-5 favorite over Starine at 5-2, followed by England's Legend at 3-1.
As long as they spell his name correctly on the check, Dana Whitney doesn't really care if anyone thinks he's a woman.
Although he has been riding professionally for eight years and currently is the leading rider at Mountaineer Park, Whitney still is frequently mistaken for a female by those who don't know any better.
"Maybe it's because my last name is a girl's name, too," he said.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Fancy As heads one of the deepest fields in recent years in the Grade 2 $200,000 British Columbia Derby on Saturday at Hastings Park. A full field of 12 3-year-olds is entered in the 1 1/8-mile race. But Fancy As, I'm Free, Diglett, and Stage Classic will attract most of the attention, and a strong case can be made for each of them.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It will be Dat You Miz Blue's speed against Dream Supreme's class when the two sprinting fillies meet for the fourth time in Saturday's $125,000, Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park.
Dat You Miz Blue defeated Dream Supreme in this year's Vagrancy and finished ahead of her in last year's Prioress, but Dream Supreme bested Dat You Miz Blue in the Grade 1 Test in 2000.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - England, France, Germany, the United States, and Canada will be represented here in Sunday's 12-horse field for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Canadian International.
Not to be outdone, Sunday's 13-horse field for the Grade 1, $500,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes, for fillies and mares, will feature contestants from the same five countries.
The draw for the Canadian International was conducted here Thursday.