MIAMI, Fla. - In their only previous meeting, nearly six months ago at Gulfstream Park, Halo Reality and Happily Unbridled finished second and third in the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss Stakes. On Saturday, the pair will square off once again, for a more modest purse, in the $50,000 Judy's Red Shoes Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies at Calder.
Halo Reality and Happily Unbridled have both been lightly raced since the Bonnie Miss.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - On Saturday, Marty's Boy could become Fort Erie's winningest horse of the year. Nine runners have scored four times. Even more noteworthy is that it would be Marty's Boy's fifth consecutive triumph. All four wins were at the bottom claiming level of $5,000.
From post 3, the 5-year-old Marty's Boy will take on $7,500 claimers in a five-furlong turf dash that attracted 20 entrants, 10 of whom will go. The race was written for horses who have never won on the grass.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Collect Call has been competing with, and coming close to, some of the best 3-year-old fillies in the United States. But her trainer, Christopher Paasch, thought it was time to look for an easier spot for his talented filly and that's the main reason that Saturday's $175,000 British Columbia Breeders' Cup Oaks has attracted a horse with Grade 1 credentials.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - When Affirmed Success came to town for the 2000 Atto Mile, he was a 6-year-old in the midst of a transition from main-track sprinter to turf miler.
And while his performance level on dirt has not waned, Affirmed Success is going into this year's Grade 1 Atto Mile on Sunday as one of the premier turf milers in North America.
Affirmed Success, owned by Albert Fried Jr. and trained by Rick Schosberg, made a successful turf debut in Belmont's one-mile Poker last year, and followed up with an allowance victory over 1 1/16 miles of grass at Saratoga.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A new favorite for the Grade 1 Atto Mile may have emerged Thursday after Irish Prize, who had been expected to rule the choice in a wide-open race, drew the outside post in a field of 14.
Irish Prize, who will be seeking his fourth straight graded turf stakes victory, was the early favorite in Sunday's $1 million turf race at Woodbine. But Irish Prize's unfavorable draw, combined with his highweight assignment of 124 pounds under the allowance conditions, may lead the public to lean slightly toward Affirmed Success.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The horse vans were rolling en masse out of the stable area at Del Mar on Thursday morning, carrying horses who had remained for Wednesday's closing-day card, but two of the departees will have only a brief stay in Los Angeles before heading to New York.
DEL MAR, Calif. - With a crowd of adoring fans watching his every move, and many capturing the moment with their cameras, Point Given was paraded in the paddock and on the track on Wednesday afternoon, closing day at Del Mar.
Point Given was retired last week after injuring a tendon in his left front leg. He had not raced in California since the Santa Anita Derby, so this was a way for local fans to see the colt who, after beginning his racing career last summer at Del Mar, developed into the best 3-year-old in the land.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Already established as one of the most important meets of any year, this fall's Belmont Park session - which begins its 37-day run on Friday - takes on added significance because Belmont will host the World Thoroughbred Championships on Oct. 27.
The championships consist of eight races with total purses worth $13 million, highlighted by the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic. This will be the third time, and first since 1995, that Belmont will host the Breeders' Cup series.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Victor Espinoza on Wednesday was suspended for two days and fined $2,000 by Del Mar's stewards, the latest action against the jockey for whipping a horse on the flank and causing a break in the skin.
Espinoza was cited for his ride on Rafid in the first race Aug. 26. Espinoza had been warned and fined earlier this meet, and had previously incurred a one-day suspension, which he appealed. He was ordered to serve the latest suspension on Sept. 26-27, the first two days of Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.
Purse levels and ontrack handle and attendance remained virtually the same as last year at the 2001 Ellis Park summer meet that ended Monday. Meanwhile, all-sources handle rose 5.5 percent to over $125.6 million, for an average of more than $3 million per day at the 41-day meet.
Daily purses averaged $188,546, down less than one-half of 1 percent from last year. Average attendance of just over 2,900 was up less than 1 percent, while average ontrack handle of just over $400,000 (including whole-card imports) also was up less than 1 percent.
