Hot Thoroughbred competition will match the hot weather this weekend, with top races on tap on dirt and turf and at a variety of distances.
Calder Race Course on Saturday hosts the "Summit of Speed" -- an event that has become a key early test for the nation's top sprinters.
Seven were entered for the $350,000, Grade II Smile Sprint Handicap and six of them finished first or second in their last outing. Invaders Apriority, Noble's Promise and This Ones for Phil arguably have a class advantage but Giant Ryan is riding a four-race winning streak in lesser events.
The $350,000, Grade I Princess Rooney for fillies and mares drew a dozen distaffers from coast to coast with Kentucky-based Sassy Image among the likely favorites. Sassy Image is coming off two graded wins at Churchill Downs.
The $200,000, Grade II Carry Back for 3-year-olds is a typical sophomore puzzle with a half dozen speedy pieces to consider. And the $150,000, Grade III Azalea for 3-year-old fillies also has six entrants with California invader May Day Rose a potential standout. Just Louise, undefeated in two starts last year, is making her first start in more than a year for trainer Dale Romans and posted a nice workout last week at her Churchill Downs base.
Elsewhere:
-- In England, Newmarket hosts the July Festival, sponsored by Piper Heidsieck Champagne. The festival kicks off Friday with the 1-mile Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes. Among the contenders are Sahpresa, who won her seasonal debut last month at Longchamp in Paris, and globetrotting South African-bred River Jetez. Saturday's Festival showpiece is the Darley July Cup, a stop in the Global Sprint Challenge and often a springboard for European sprint champions. A big field is expected, with international representation. Delegator, from the Godolphin Racing operation, is a nominee, as are Australian sprinter Star Witness, Aidan O'Brien's Zoffany and/or Oracle and Germany's War Artist.
-- St. John's River comes into Saturday's $300,000, Grade II Delaware Oaks with but one career victory. But the Include filly has finished a close second in both the Fair Grounds Oaks and the Kentucky Oaks and is likely to be top pick in the prestigious event, which served as a step along the way to championship seasons by Blind Luck last year and Proud Spell in 2008. This year's version drew a field of seven. Delaware Park also hosts the $200,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial for grass-running fillies and mares and the $100,000 Barbaro Stakes for 3-year-olds this weekend.
-- Twirling Candy will seek the second Grade I victory of his career in the $500,000, Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup Saturday at Hollywood Park. The 1 1/4 mile event on the all-weather track is a "Win and You're In" race, with the victor guaranteed a spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs. Twirling Candy has won five of nine starts but has not yet successfully tackled the Classic distance. Last year's winner, Awesome Gem, also is in this year's field and Bob Baffert will saddle Game On Dude and First Dude in the Gold Cup, which will be supported by the $150,000, Grade II Swaps Stakes for 3-year-olds.
-- On Saturday at Belmont Park, reigning turf champion Gio Ponti will try to become the first horse to win three editions of the $600,000, Grade I Man o' War Stakes. A field of seven was entered for the Man o' War, with Gio Ponti listed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The Man o' War gains international intrigue with the Aidan O'Brien-trained Cape Blanco, a multiple Group 1 winner in Europe who will be making his U.S. debut. Fourth just ahead of Gio Ponti in the Dubai World Cup this March, the 4-year-old, Irish-bred Galileo colt subsequently was fourth in the Group 1 Prix Ganay-Prix Air Mauritius at Longchamp and sixth behind Canford Cliffs and Goldikova in the Group 1 Queen Anne at Ascot on June 14.
-- Arlington Park's world-class grass course hosts three graded stakes events Saturday -- all final local preps for the track's three Grade I events on Aug. 13 -- the Arlington Million, the Beverly D. and the Secretariat Stakes. Saturday's races are the American Derby, with Cannon Hill in from Ireland for trainer Dermot Weld; the Modesty Handicap for fillies and mares, featuring multiple graded stakes winner Wasted Tears; and the Arlington Handicap, a contentious heat featuring two overseas contenders.
