ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sky Chariot, a nominee to Saturday's Grade 2 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap, has found a softer spot in Friday's Woodbine feature, a $62,000 optional claimer on the grass.
A 14-horse field will line up in the one-mile race, not including main-track-only entrant On the Game.
EDMONTON, Alberta - After spending eight years at Hastings Park in Vancouver, jockey Richard Hamel made the trek east over the Rocky Mountains to Alberta in 1998.
Just 28 years old at the time, Hamel was considering changing careers but wanted one more shot. Now, four years after the difficult decision, Hamel is all smiles and on pace to reach his goal of 100 victories in 2001.
AUBURN, Wash. - The emphasis will be on youth at Emerald Downs Friday, as five of the eight races on the card, including the feature, are for 2-year-olds.
The feature, the seventh race, is a six-furlong dash for $16,000 to $14,000 claimers that has attracted a field of eight horses.
DEL MAR, Calif. - There is enough time remaining in the Del Mar meeting for Chris McCarron to salvage a disappointing season.
Through Monday, McCarron had four winners at Del Mar and was not among the top 10 in the jockey standings. In addition, he had yet to win a stakes, which is typically his strength, considering his alliance with many top barns.
"It's been slow," McCarron said in the stables on Wednesday between workout assignments. "It's been disappointing, but not devastating."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. - Trainer Bob Baffert does not have a horse in Saturday's $200,000 Hopeful Stakes, but he still is having an effect on the race. The imposing presence of the undefeated Baffert-trained Officer in Wednesday's Del Mar Futurity is the main reason two other California-based juveniles, Came Home and Roman Dancer, have been flown cross-country for the Grade 1 Hopeful.
A third Southern Californian, Godolphin Stable's Essence of Dubai., did not make the flight east after a last-minute decision by trainer Eoin Harty.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - At the Al Stall barn Wednesday morning, Pam Fitzgerald, Stall's Arlington assistant, bemoaned the fact that the filly Dance Memories was idling in her stall each afternoon.
"She needs to run," Fitzgerald said. "She's doing so well right now. They aren't using her race, though."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - After a tough summer at the fairs because of a horse shortage, Greg Brent, racing secretary at Bay Meadows, is expressing optimism concerning the track's 52-day 2001 fall meeting that will get under way Friday night.
"We're going to have to work early in the meet for sure," to fill races, Brent said. "A lot of people still have horses out of town, and we have an overlap with the California State Fair at Sacramento the first four days.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A hot pace is likely in Friday's featured sixth race at Assiniboia, as four of the seven entrants prefer the front end. The six-furlong race for $20,000 claimers has a purse of $9,400.
Burlington House looks for his fourth consecutive victory and seventh of the season as he breaks from the outside under Anderson Ward. Trained by Leonard Anderson, Burlington House probably will be part of the early battle.
Trainer Blair Miller sends out the entry of Silver Trooper and Known Land.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It has been relatively quiet recently in the world of Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad.
The stable has not won a stakes since July 14, when Strut the Stage took the Toronto Cup, and will be represented by a pair of outsiders here this weekend with Strike Smartly going in Saturday's Niagara Breeders' Cup and Cryptic Response in Sunday's Seaway.
But Frostad will be looking to turn things around in a big way here Sept. 9 when Quiet Resolve, who has been concentrating on longer turf races, switches gears for the Grade 1, $1 million Atto Mile.
Sweet Annuity solidified her status as the early favorite for the $150,000 Cavada Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 13 by scoring a wire-to-wire 3 1/4-length victory in last Saturday's $35,000 Sadie Hawkins Stakes, a seven-furlong race for West Virginia-breds.
* Value-oriented players had only to focus on route races last week. Of the 11 races contested at 1 1/16 and 1 1/8 miles, Girls Girls Girls and Sonny's Chance were the only favorites to win. Seven of the other eight winners were 5-1 or higher, with the average win mutuel $23.80.
