SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Mark Hennig was delighted to pick up the entries for Sunday's $300,000 Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap and not see the names Albert the Great, Lido Palace, or Traditionally in the field.
When Perfect Cat isn't running against that trio of Grade 1 winners, he has fared quite well this year. Sunday, Perfect Cat will shoot for his most prestigious victory when he takes on six rivals in the Grade 2 Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap at Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - On Sunday, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association will release the results of a long-awaited study into drug-testing procedures and illegal medications. It will be an important moment, not only because the issue has sharply divided the industry, but also because the NTRA has yet to prove its leadership in controversial areas.
MIAMI - When Omar Camejo won the lottery in 1998 he didn't become an instant millionaire or the newest member of the Fortune 500. His prize was worth far more than anything money could buy. It was his freedom.
Camejo won a lottery held in his native Cuba that allows a select few to leave the island and come to the United States each year. For Camejo, having his name chosen meant the opportunity to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional jockey.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Bill Mott, who shipped five turf stakes winners to Monmouth last year, has a great opportunity to take his first stakes here this summer with Multitudinous in the $50,000 Junior Champion Stakes on Sunday.
The Junior Champion Stakes, run at one mile, is the first turf stakes of the meet for 2-year-olds. The race, for 2-year-old fillies, drew a solid field of 12, offering a good mix of first-time turf starters and others who have already had grass success.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - It will be a Saskatchewan day at at Marquis Downs Sunday, as four stakes for Saskatchewan-bred 2- and 3-year-olds will be staged on the annual Heritage Day program.
The 2-year olds will race at 6 1/2 furlongs while the 3-year olds compete over 1 1/16 miles.
The $12,100 Parkland Heritage for 3-year-old fillies is by far the day's most competitive race, as Saskatchewan Derby winner Red Vil Do takes on Ms. Lady Rose, Rapadash, and four others.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Trainer Ardell Sayler will be looking to win his third North Dakota Stallion Stakes in five years with the favored entry of Its Stormin and Mybest-friendjohn at Assiniboia Downs on Sunday.
The six-furlong race for horses eligible through the North Dakota Thoroughbred Association will carry a purse of $26,000 and attracted a field of eight.
Alan Cuthbertson will ride Its Stormin, a winner in his debut July 13, while Brian Harding will be aboard Mybestfriendjohn.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - George Tharrenos will have mixed emotions when he watches the Vandal Stakes here Sunday.
On the one hand Tharrenos will have a soft spot for Feelitfirst, who is owned by Bridle Path Racing Stable, the nom de course of his sister-in-law Sandra Patras.
Grand Couer, a maiden winner in July, set the fastest qualifying time for the $1,954,689 All American Futurity in Thursday's time trials for 2-year-old Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs.
Making his third start, Grand Couer ran 440 yards in 21.636 seconds on a sloppy track. He was ridden by Jacky Martin, who will attempt to win a record eighth All American Futurity in the final on Sept. 3.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Gracious Prize, who won a $25,000 starter allowance the last time he raced on the Bay Meadows turf course, rates as the one to beat when he goes in for a $25,000 tag in the grass feature at the San Mateo track Sunday.
The scheduled feature, the $40,000 San Matean Handicap, was cancelled when it received only four entries.
FERNDALE, Calif. - The 45th running of northern California's longest summer stakes event - the 1 5/8-mile Humboldt County Marathon Handicap - will share the spotlight with a racing legend, the mule Black Ruby, as the 105th Humboldt Fair closes its most successful season ever, on Sunday.
Trainer Fred Costa will be in search of his third Marathon victory when he sends out stakes-winning 3-year-old Ironman Dehere in the Fair's premier event, in which runners must cross the finish line four times on this tight-turned, half-mile oval.