LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When Bet on Sunshine and Alannan last raced at Churchill Downs, they were separated by nearly an hour. In Saturday's $100,000 Aristides Handicap, as little as a fifth of the second may separate the two crack sprinters.
This time they won't be competing in different races, which happened at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, May 5. Bet on Sunshine finished second in an allowance that afternoon, one race before Alannan won the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap.
ELMONT, N.Y - If Include has as much fight in his blood as his trainer, Bud Delp, has in his, he will have a major impact on Sunday's $500,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park.
Delp, one of Maryland's most respected trainers, criticized New York Racing Association racing secretary Mike Lakow regarding the weight assignments for the Grade 2 Suburban. Include was assigned 122 pounds, one less than Albert the Great.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Since dropping in with New York-breds, Bakhoor has reeled off two consecutive victories by a combined 20 lengths.
So why has Richard Migliore decided to ride Personal Pro in Saturday's $100,000 Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park?
Bakhoor and Personal Pro figure to duke it out for top honors in the Mike Lee, which drew an overflow field of 15. Only 14 will be permitted to run. The Mike Lee, run at seven furlongs, is the first leg of the Big Apple Triple for New York-bred
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With only five expected starters, there was little tension in the post position draw for Sunday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup.
A race with a small field and a two-furlong run to the first turn offers little chance for trouble in the early stages. Still, some trainers prefer certain posts, and Bob Baffert was content when Captain Steve, the likely favorite, drew post 5.
"I don't think the post matters, but I like being drawn outside," Baffert said.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Cole Norman still vividly recalls the first few months of 1995, when he inherited what remained of his late father's stable at Oaklawn Park.
He can't help but remember: Those memories are partly what have driven Norman to become one of the winningest trainers in North America today.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Its age is showing. Badly.
From the tired-looking barn area to the drab paddock, from the outdated infield tote board to the faded green carpet in the winner's circle, from the overgrown bushes of the outer upper stretch to the weeds pushing up through the parking lot, Louisiana Downs really could use a makeover.
And it's getting one.
"This is real," said Ray Tromba, the track's general manager and vice president whose tenure at Louisiana Downs dates to 1987.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Undeterred by a pair of uncharacteristically poor races by his stable star, trainer J.R. Smith Sr. said Thursday that Chicago Six would make his next start in the $500,000 Washington Park Handicap on July 21 here at Arlington.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Speed is the theme of the Stars of Texas Day undercard at Lone Star Park on Saturday, with two six-furlong sprints and two five-furlong futurities. The program is rounded out by the $100,000 Allen Bogan Memorial, a one-mile race for fillies and mares bred in Texas.
The $50,000 Stonerside Sprint and its filly counterpart, the $50,000 Valor Farm Stakes, are for 3-year-old state-breds over six furlongs, and each race has drawn a standout sprinter.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park reconfigured its stakes schedule this year to offer six restricted stakes on a single program, creating a mid-season championship for horses with ties to Texas. The card has been named Stars of Texas Day, and purses for the six races, to be run Saturday, total $650,000.
The $150,000 Assault Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up bred in Texas, has drawn a deep field of older runners led by Captain Countdown, who won the Premiere Stakes on April 5, opening night of the meet, over several of the same rivals he faces Saturday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Turner's Hall, fifth-place finisher for owners Eugene and Laura Melnyk in the June 9 Labatt Woodbine Oaks, could have continued on the Canadian Triple Tiara trail in Sunday's Bison City at Fort Erie.
But instead, the filly will stay at Woodbine for Monday's $135,000 Ontario Damsel, a 6 1/2-furlong turf race that also is restricted to Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
"I don't think she really wants to go quite that far," said trainer Ron Burke, with reference not to the 90-mile van ride to Fort Erie but to the Bison City's 1 1/16-mile distance.