OCEANPORT, N.J. - The contenders in Saturday's $50,000 Little Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs are a study in differing 2-year-old sale prices.
Harmony Lodge was purchased by Eugene and Laura Melnyk for $1.65 million at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton February sale. Erin Moor was bought for $250,000 out of the same sale by Caesar Kimmel and Philip Solondz. And Xtra Heat, the favorite for the Little Silver, was purchased by Kenneth Taylor for a mere $5,000 at a Timonium spring sale.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Following a week of rain, Canterbury Park handicappers will get a chance to sink their teeth into the season's first turf racing this weekend. They find a challenging assignment in the competitive $100,000 Canterbury Park Breeders' Cup Derby, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.
Rahy's Secret merits favoritism in the field of eight, having finished a good third in the Hawthorne Derby three weeks ago. In that race, Rahy's Secret tracked a slow pace but still finished well to close the gap on the winner, Kalu.
LINCOLN, Neb. - The older filly and mare set has taken turns beating each other in Nebraska this spring, and Saturday's $10,000 Bluegrass Stakes, a six-furlong handicap for fillies and mares, shapes up as a puzzle for bettors.
Cash Cruise, Double Dreamin Deb, and Sweet Fantastic all won stakes last year but have yet to win this year. The addition of upstarts Winduchess, Sandpit Dancer, Zoucha Nutcracker, and Saffron help to muddy the picture even more.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Hard-hitting older horses Willowbrook Lane and Sand Ridge head a field of seven in the $50,000 Bob Feller Stakes at six furlongs Saturday at Prairie Meadows.
Willowbrook Lane, a 7-year-old gelded son of Lost Code, enters the Feller off a victory in the Honey Mark at Hawthorne on May 5 at nearly 16-1. The Honey Mark was Willowbrook Lane's second stakes score of the year. He also has three second-place finishes in seven starts in 2001.
The green and yellow silks of Eclipse Award-winning owners Bob and Beverly Lewis will make a rare appearance at River Downs in Cincinnati on Saturday.
Their 3-year-old colt Unbridled Time heads the field for the $50,000 Green Carpet Handicap for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Jostle, who has yet to regain the form that made her one of last season's top 3-year-old fillies, will get a new jockey for her next start in New York.
Jostle will be ridden by Jerry Bailey for the first time in the Grade 1 Hempstead Handicap at Belmont Park on June 23. If she runs well and comes out of the Hempstead in good shape, the 4-year-old Jostle will probably run in the Grade 3 $600,000 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on July 22.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns eight racetracks including Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields in northern California, has purchased 226 acres of land in Dixon, Ca. For $6.3 million, The Sacramento Bee reported.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Matiere Grise, who just missed in the Miss American Handicap here April 8, will be a heavy favorite to score her first United State stakes victory in the $50,000 Palo Alto Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Matiere Grise will be ridden by Russell Baze, who is embroiled in a tight battle with Jason Lumpkins for the Bay Meadows jockey championship but is suffering through an 0-for-23 slump in stakes races. He has not won a stakes since Feb. 10, but he has finished second in a stakes 11 times since then.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Ed Freeman has five wins to his credit from 18 saddlings going into Saturday's races at Fort Erie. That's good for third place in the trainers' standing.
It's also not far off Freeman's total output last year, when he visited the winner's circle just seven times from 47 starts. "I'm hoping to have my best season ever," said Freeman, a 41-year-old native of Newmarket, England. "My best year, numerically, was 1992, when I won 23. I finished second in the standings.