SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Rouge Royale, Saskatchewan's reigning champion older male, appears ready to reaffirm his claim on that title when he faces just three rivals at Marquis Downs in Saturday's $6,000 Coca Cola Classic at a mile.
Owned by Stan Schmidt, Rouge Royale won the Early's Top Seeded by a length last time out, completing the mile in a sharp 1:39.74.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Denying Quiet Resolve, Canada's reigning horse of the year and champion turf male, a second straight victory in Sunday's Grade 2 Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy at Woodbine will be a difficult task.
But if any horse is up to the challenge of dethroning Quiet Resolve, it's Kimberlite Pipe.
"He's doing very well," said trainer Mike Wright Jr., who trains Kimberlite Pipe for Prairie Star Racing and John Gunther. "He was always a good horse; the owners are happy to see his form come around again."
ALTOONA, Iowa - As Prairie Meadows begins its 45-day mixed meet with a 15-race program Saturday night, the track has restructured its takeout rates in an attempt to increase handle at simulcast outlets. The reduction comes after the track's total handle decreased by more than 18 percent for the recently concluded 53-day Thoroughbred meeting.
Joanies Bella is poised to win her first stakes in the $40,000 Tah Dah at River Downs . The 5 1/2-furlong stakes has attracted 11 Ohio-bred 2-year-old fillies.
Joanies Bella, a daughter of Mercer Mill, has a clear class and speed figure advantage over her rivals. Campaigned in open company in her first three starts, Joanies Bella won at first asking at Hawthorne in May, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 88. She regressed in her next two starts at Churchill, an allowance and the Grade 3 Debutante, but was facing the top fillies Cashier's Dream and Lakeside Cup in both.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Triple Card, who recently set a track mark at Lone Star Park; Prince Slew, a multiple stakes winner who is undefeated here; and Joyful Tune, winner of four straight, head a stellar field for the Airline Stakes at Louisiana Downs.
The six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds carries a $40,000 purse and will be the seventh race on the program.
With a majority of the field having never run on turf, and those with experience having only moderate success on the surface, the $50,000 Kentucky Colonel Stakes at Ellis Park presents a good test for the handicappers. The Kentucky Colonel is for 3-year-olds at one mile.
OMAHA, Neb. - Naturalingredients, the highweight at 121 pounds, heads a full field of 10 fillies and mares in the $30,000 Queen's Handicap at six furlongs, one of two stakes races on the four-race card at Horsemen's Park.
Naturalingredients invades from the recently concluded Lone Star Park meet, where she fell victim to Hallowed Dreams in her two most recent starts. Naturalingredients rates the edge in a speed-laden field off her Lone Star efforts. She has shown the ability to lay just off the pace, which should be hotly contested.
Proven turf form is in short commodity among the 10 3-year-old fillies entered in the $50,000 Southampton Stakes at Philadelphia Park.
Seven fillies have either never won on grass or won just a maiden race over the surface, which makes the 1 1/16-mile stakes something of a guessing game for handicappers.
SALEM, N.H. - So far this meet, no horse has been able to get in front of Binnifactor. Known for his blazing speed, Binnifactor will have a chance to become a stakes winner for the first time on Saturday, when he tops a field of seven in the $25,000 Rockingham Sprint Handicap.