WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Latter Day Ace looms the probable favorite in Friday's featured third race, as a field of five will go to post in a six-furlong conditioned allowance.
Trained by Gordon Marsh, Latter Day Ace has faced some of the toughest horses here in his last three starts.
In his latest race on Aug. 3, Latter Day Ace finished second behind
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Blast of Storm, who has been knocking them dead in Barbados, is looking to transfer his act to the larger stage of Woodbine.
A 5-year-old owned by Sally Arbib, Blast of Storm arrived from Miami Wednesday morning along with his groom, Michael Lopez. The horse had spent a week in quarantine in Florida before the flight north.
Trainer Bill Marshall, who arrived Tuesday evening along with his wife, Pam, will oversee Blast of Storm's preparations for the $300,000 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap, a Grade 2, 1 1/2-mile turf race Sept. 1.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sanich Lady, who ran third as a 4-5 favorite in her last start at Vallejo, may deserve a slight edge over eight other fillies and mares in the feature at Bay Meadows Friday night.
The nine are entered for claiming prices of $22,500 to $25,000 in the six-furlong race, and will be running for a $26,000 purse. There will be only eight races, as none of the three scheduled races for emerging breeds attracted sufficient entries.
MIAMI - Eddie Plesa Jr. celebrated his sixth Florida Stallion Series victory last Saturday when O'Rocky rallied to capture the second division of the Dr. Fager Stakes. Plesa may find additional reason to celebrate in the coming weeks with the return of the fragile but extremely talented Best of the Rest, who is nearly ready to launch the fourth comeback of his injury- plagued career.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Trainer Donnie Von Hemel won his 100th Remington Park stakes race last Sunday when Voladora captured the $35,000 Azalea Handicap. No other trainer comes remotely close to that accomplishment in the track's 14-year history; Steve Hobby ranks a distant second in stakes wins with 30.
AUBURN, Wash. - Two-year-olds will be featured at Emerald Downs on Thursday, with five of the nine races for juveniles.
The rash of 2-year-old races is indicative of the growing role that juveniles have assumed at Emerald, which has now carded 81 races for 2-year-olds through 70 days of racing. Through 70 days at last year's stand, only 52 juvenile races had been run, and only 91 were run at the entire 96-day meeting.
DEL MAR, Calif. - It was about this time one year ago that trainer Bobby Frankel began his annual assault on the nation's major stakes races. He won the Pacific Classic and the Arlington Million, victories that helped propel the Hall of Fame trainer to an Eclipse Award. It was the Summer of Bobby.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Sestino returned from a 23-month layoff four weeks ago, very nearly won, but then looked as though he might need another vacation. He was pulled up soon after the wire by jockey Chris McCarron, and had to be taken from the course in the horse ambulance.
As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with Sestino, at least nothing that couldn't be fixed by a farrier. He had dislodged his right front shoe during the race, and because it was sitting askew, it made a clanging sound that alarmed McCarron, who rode the horse gingerly in the final furlong.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - When you've trained colt and filly 2-year-old champions in the same year, it's safe to say you know something about juvenile form. So when trainer Pat Byrne says he hopes Pass Rush can develop into a top 2-year-old this year, it's safe to say his five opponents at Arlington on Thursday are in deep water.
