SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When Pompeii scored a 1 1/4-length win over Beautiful Pleasure in Friday's $400,000 Personal Ensign Handicap at Saratoga, it was a bittersweet moment for trainer John Kimmel.
Pompeii became a Grade 1 winner in the Personal Ensign, but on Saturday morning she was scheduled to move over to trainer Elliott Walden's barn after have been sold earlier this week by Robert Clay to WinStar Farm. In the Personal Ensign, Pompeii ran for both WinStar Farm and Robert Clay.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Bienamado, who finished seventh as the favorite in the Arlington Million on Aug. 18, will reappear in an early October prep race for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf at Belmont Park on Oct. 27, according to co-owner John Toffan.
Toffan said the $750,000 Turf Classic at Belmont Park on Sept. 29 or the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Sept. 30 are being considered.
"I think we'll need another race before the Breeders' Cup," Toffan said. "I hate to go into the Breeders' Cup off that race."
DEL MAR, Calif. - When Eoin Harty signed on as the American-based trainer of 2-year-olds for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin Racing, Inc., he was given one mission: Give the horses a foundation for their 3-year-old year, with the focal point the Kentucky Derby.
Harty is still searching for the best Derby prospect among the colts in his barn this year. The best horse in his barn, well, that's already been determined.
Some of the fastest colts and geldings stabled at Remington Park in Oklahoma City will meet Sunday in the track's $30,000 Sprint Championship Handicap. The six-furlong race should produce starters for the richest sprint race of the meet, the $75,000 Silver Bullet Centennial on Sept. 14.
MIAMI, Fla. - Bernie Flint has made a pretty good living on his Calder shippers alone over the past several seasons although the Kentucky-based trainer is still looking for his first victory in the Florida Stallion Series. It's a situation he hopes to rectify a week from Saturday when he ships Typhoon Bertie down from Kentucky for the $125,000 Susan's Girl Stakes.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Corporate Shuffle will try to reassert his dominance over the local 3-year-olds in Sunday's Harry Jeffreys Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race worth $27,500.
Trained by Darla Singh, Corporate Shuffle last raced in the Manitoba Derby on Aug. 6, finishing a distant third behind Stage Classic and Fancy As. The defeat was the first for Corporate Shuffle in eight starts at Assiniboia Downs.
The likely pacesetter, Corporate Shuffle may need a slow pace to get the distance of the Jeffreys. He will be ridden by regular rider Rohan Singh.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - September arrives next Saturday, and with it will come a slew of stakes to be run here over the holiday weekend.
The biggest of the bunch is Saturday's $300,000 Niagara Breeders' Cup, a Grade 3 handicap over 1 1/2 miles of turf that serves as the final local prep for the Canadian International at Woodbine on Sept. 30. The $95,000 Flaming Page Handicap, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for fillies and mares, is Saturday's supporting feature.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The $75,000 Choice Stakes, for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, offers the most competitive field of the Iselin Handicap undercard stakes Sunday. The field includes the third- and fourth-place runners from the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 6.
Saint Verre, trained by McGaughey, made his first turf start in the Hall of Fame, setting the early fractions and holding on for third. Saint Verre has not fulfilled his connections' high expectations on the main track, and may prove better on turf.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The two horses with the most to prove in Friday's 54th running of the Personal Ensign Handicap both made statements in the grade 1, $400,000 event for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga. Pompeii proved she has arrived on the scene as one of the top distaffers in the country, and Beautiful Pleasure, the former champion, showed she may yet have something left in the tank.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Often overshadowed, sometimes underestimated, but rarely outdone, trainer D. Wayne Lukas has managed to turn 2001 from moribund to magical.
In a year in which he broke his 20-year Kentucky Derby appearance streak and lost one of his biggest clients, Padua Stable, Lukas has found a way not only to endure, but to excel.
