Each week BloodHorse.com looks forward to the weekend's biggest races. Consider this your weekly guide to the best stakes races in North America. This week Tampa Bay Downs gets the spotlight with three graded stakes Saturday.
In what could be her racing swan song, Isabella Sings will try to successfully pull off her catch-me-if-you-can routine against 10 other fillies and mares in the Feb. 11 $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes (G3T).
After a mild case of colic, the planned 2017 season debut for Tepin has been pushed back.
With her five-furlong move over the turf at Palm Meadows Training Center Feb. 1, Tepin again succeeded in sparking renewed hope that Plan 'A' can come off as scheduled.
The morning after she was voted champion turf female for a second consecutive year, Tepin signaled that another reign may be in the making as she worked four furlongs in company with Tamit, covering the distance in a bullet :47 4/5.
Chris Baccari, who sold a Tapit colt for $1.2 million, began his career by buying yearlings to race and turned to sales after having too many horses one year.
After beating the boys last time out in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT), the 5-year-old Bernstein mare handled her own division with exactly the kind of dominance trainer Mark Casse was seeking in her season debut.
Looking to launch a campaign that could include another run at the boys at Keeneland in the Maker's 46 Mile (gr. IT) this spring, trainer Mark Casse has entered Tepin in the Feb. 13 Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Tampa Bay.
Hard Not to Like hit the wire first in the $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) Jan. 31 but was disqualified, moving favored Testa Rossi into the winner's circle at Tampa Bay Downs.
Multiple graded stakes winner Testa Rossi makes her return to the races in the $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) from Tampa Bay Downs Jan. 31.
Making her first start for Neil Drysdale, Three Hearts took the lead in the stretch at odds of 29-1 and proved too tough while holding off Lady of Gold in the $100,000 Red Carpet Handicap (gr. IIIT) Nov. 22 at Del Mar.
Appealing Cat makes her first appearance in Southern California for trainer Graham Motion in search of a graded stakes victory in the renamed Red Carpet Handicap (gr. IIIT) on the Del Mar turf Nov. 22.
Led by $3.6 million Naples Bay, Medaglia d'Oro's half sister in foal to War Front, Keeneland November's opening session sold more seven-figure horses but had lower figures overall than last year.
The first session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale ended on a strong note Nov. 4 as grade I winner Last Full Measure was sold for $1.5 million to the China Horse Club.
The Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland mixed sales, which run Nov. 3-14 in Kentucky and feature some standout horses and Breeders' Cup-related catalog updates, should maintain market stability, officials say.
White Rose emerged from a five-horse scramble in the final 50 yards to win the $125,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager by a nose over lukewarm favorite Caroline Thomas Oct. 19 at Keeneland.
Grade I winner Last Full Measure, in foal to War Front, has been supplemented to Keeneland's 2014 November breeding stock sale and will be offered Nov. 4, opening day of the auction.
Julie's Love, who has plenty of graded stakes experience, gets a slight edge in the Sept. 13 Noble Damsel Stakes (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park. The $200,000 race for older fillies and mares is at a mile on the Widener Course.
Augustin Stable's Appealing Cat, part of an owner/trainer entry, rode the rail to win the $100,000 Mrs. Penny Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares on Pennsylvania's Day at the Races at Parx Racing Sept. 6.
Juddmonte Farms' Filimbi collared pacesetter Dayatthespa in the stretch and outfought that tenacious rival for her first U.S. stakes win in the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Stakes Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course.
Dayatthespa and Big Blue Kitten, two familiar faces from the barn of trainer Chad Brown, head the respective fields for the De La Rose and the Lure, two $100,000 turf races on the Whitney undercard Aug. 2 at Saratoga.
Assateague dominated seven fillies and mares in the $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap (gr. IIIT), leading all the way en route to her first graded stakes win July 8 at Parx Racing.
Pin Oak Stud's homebred Cloud Scapes edged ahead of pacesetter Wholelottashakin in the stretch and narrowly won the $150,000 Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) in her stakes debut Jan. 25 at Tampa Bay Downs.
After closing 2013 with a third-place finish in the Long Island Handicap (gr. IIIT), Left a Message will try to nail down her first graded stakes victory Jan. 25 in the Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Tampa Bay Downs.
Better Lucky, who paid a record $72.20 when capturing the $250,000 Matriarch (gr. IT) a year ago, will try to become only the second repeat winner in race history Dec. 1 at Betfair Hollywood Park.
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Alaura Michele | William I. Mott |
|
| Appealing Cat | H. Graham Motion |
|
| Awesome Belle | Stanley I. Gold |
|
| Blue Heart | Brian A. Lynch |
|
| Callmethesqueeze | Manuel J. Azpurua |
|
| Dealbata (IRE) | Chad C. Brown |
|
| Exclusive Love | Mark E. Casse |
|
| Font | Barclay Tagg |
|
| Hooh Why | Tim Girten |
|
| Last Full Measure | Philip J. Oliver |
|
| My Redbyrd | John P. Terranova, II |
|
| Old Tune (BRZ) | Todd A. Pletcher |
|
| Pianist | Chad C. Brown |
|
| Sweet Little Lion | William I. Mott |
|
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Caress S. | SAR | |
| Clasico Constitucion S. (G1) | CMR | |
| Prince of Wales S. | FE | |
| Cougar II H. (G3) | DMR | |
| Jonathan Kiser Novice S. | SAR |
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