Pompeii might be a vulnerable favorite when she makes her first start since March 31 in Saturday's $50,000 Doylestown Handicap at Philadelphia Park.
If Pompeii, a graded winner, is ready to fire off the bench, she is the one to beat among the 11 fillies and mares entered in the 1 1/8-mile Doylestown Handicap on the dirt.
But if Pompeii, who carries 118 pounds, needs the race, Tax Affair and Gold for My Gal, the 119-pound highweight, are perfectly capable of winning the Doylestown.
MIAMI - The early leader of the local juvenile division will be decided on Saturday when Tabac and Pure Precision square off in the $100,000 Criterium Stakes at
5 1/2 furlongs. The 30th running of the Criterium, whose roster of winners includes champion sprinter Smile, drew a field of seven.
Tabac turned in far and away the best performance by a 2-year-old during the Hialeah meet, while Pure Precision has easily been the most impressive juvenile to run during the opening five weeks of this meet.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Saratoga bettors are hereby forewarned. A pair of meet-ending races that typically produce contenders in both divisions of Saratoga's highly contentious series for 2-year-olds will be run closing weekend at Churchill Downs.
The Bashford Manor Stakes, a Grade 2 race for colts and geldings, occupies its customary position as the closing-day feature on Sunday. The filly counterpart to the Bashford Manor, the $100,000 Debutante Stakes, will be run Saturday with a field of eight 2-year-old fillies.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Hallowed Dreams, who improved her career record to a sensational 23 wins from 24 starts by capturing the Miller Lite Stakes at Lone Star Park on June 23, has a new goal: to earn $1 million.
She won't, however, get started on her new task in the near future. Trainer Lloyd Romero said he has no next-race plans for Hallowed Dreams because she recently had minor surgery to remove a growth on her girth line. She is recuperating at her home base of Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, La.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Mimi's Cafe takes a huge class drop in Saturday's $50,000 Alameda County Fillies and Mares Handicap at Pleasanton Saturday.
Mimi's Cafe finished last in the Grade 1 Milady Breeders' Cup Handicap on June 3 at Hollywood Park, but the fillies and mares she chased in that race are far superior to those she will face in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile race.
Before the Milady, Mimi's Cafe raced fairly well in two minor stakes in Southern California, finishing fourth in the Fran's Valentine at Hollywood Park and third in the Pro or Con at Santa Anita.
Jockey Mario Pino is easily the most successful member of his family involved in horse racing. A long-time regular on the Maryland circuit, Pino has won more than 4,600 races and currently ranks second in the jockey standings at Pimlico.
Don't look now, but Mario Pino's younger brother, Mike, is making a name for himself as a trainer at Delaware Park.
Mike Pino, 38, moved his stable to Delaware last year and finished 16th in the standings by saddling 24 winners.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Planoncometbebopin, ridden by Caesar Bisono, ran down favored Gifted Daughter in the final stages and scored a three-quarter-length victory in the $41,850 Pleasanton Senorita Stakes at the Alameda County Fair Wednesday.
Gifted Daughter broke sharply and opened a clear lead in the mile and 70-yard race for
3-year-old fillies, while Planoncometbebopin rated in third place, just in front of the 2-1 Color Me Special.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - It was a battle of the highweights down the stretch Wednesday at Louisiana Downs in the Independence Breeders' Cup Handicap, as Nat's Big Party outfinished Candid Glen. Defending champion Colonial Power finished third, followed by Devil Me Care.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Takarian won the $150,000 American Handicap at Hollywood Park for the second time in three years on Wednesday and may have earned a trip to the Arlington Million on Aug. 18.
"I think I'd have to consider it," said trainer Beau Greely.
Greely plans to send a small string to Chicago next week that includes Takarian.
Wednesday's victory was Takarian's first win in a graded stakes since the 1999 American, when he was sent off at 31-1. He returned $30.40 on Wednesday as part of an entry with Raypour.
Ridden by Garrett Gomez, the