Top-class racing stretches from Bossier City, La., to Paris this weekend and Irish punters will get a taste of Australia.
Louisiana Downs has $1 million on the line Saturday – half of it in the purse for the Grade II Super Derby.
The Bossier City oval moved the Super Derby up a couple weeks this year in hopes of attracting a more representative crowd of 3-year-old graded stakes runners and the move paid off. A field of nine was drawn Wednesday, including shippers from as far afield as California and New York.
"Anyone would be thrilled with the field we assembled," said Trent McIntosh, Louisiana Downs' director of operations. "This is the strongest field we've had here in six-to-eight years."
The 9-5 morning-line favorite is Prayer for Relief, a Bob Baffert trainee based in Southern California but already a road warrior with wins in the Grade II West Virginia Derby and the Grade III Iowa Derby. Alternation, winner of the Grade II Peter Pan at Belmont Park, also is entered, along with Malibu Glow, who finished fifth in the Aug. 27 Travers and will bounce back on short rest.
The undercard for the Super Derby includes a pair of turf events for 2-year-olds – the $150,000 Sunday Silence and the $100,000 Happy Ticket, the latter restricted to fillies.
Juveniles also will be on display on the all-weather track at Arlington Park on Saturday in the $100,000, Grade III Arlington-Washington Futurity and the $100,000, Grade III Arlington-Washington Lassie. Both races are one-turn miles.
Fourteen were entered for the Futurity, including two who already have stakes wins -- Hogy and Twelve Hundred. Hogy, a son of Offlee Wild, is undefeated in three starts, including the $50,000 Brian Barenscheer Stakes at Canterbury Park on Aug. 14. Twelve Hundred, a son of Cape Town, recently won the $60,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile.
Nine were named for the Lassie, all of them seeking an initial stakes score.
With Saratoga in the books, New York racing action returns to spacious Belmont Park, where the weekend highlight is Saturday's $150,000, Grade II Bowling Green Handicap at 11 furlongs on the turf. Sanagas, bred and raced earlier in Germany, is among seven grass specialists entered for that event. Sanagas, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, is coming off a win in the John's Call at Saratoga month ago for trainer Graham Motion.
With the Kentucky Cup main-track races returning to Turfway Park later this month, two Kentucky Cup grass events will be contested Saturday over the European-style course at Kentucky Downs, near the Tennessee border in the southwestern part of the Bluegrass State.
The $150,000, Grade III Kentucky Cup Turf highlights the brief fall meeting, coupled with the $50,000 Kentucky Cup Ladies Turf. Ten were entered for the 1 1/2-mile Turf; 11 for the 1-mile Ladies Turf.
For filly and mare sprinters, the weekend highlight is Saturday's $400,000, Grade II Presque Isle Downs Masters at 6 1/2 furlongs on the all-weather track. A well-matched field of 12 with two also-eligibles was drawn for the rich event and Florida-bred Beat the Blues was installed as the lukewarm 3-1 favorite. She comes off a second-place finish in the Honorable Miss at Saratoga a month ago.
Across the Atlantic:
The final British Classic of the season, the Ladbrokes St Leger, runs at Doncaster on Saturday. Godolphin's star filly, Blue Bunting is set to bid for a rare Classic triple, having already won the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas and Irish Oaks this season as well as the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks. Simon Crisford, racing manager for Godolphin, said owner Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasheed al-Maktoum watched Blue Bunting's final workout for the event and pronounced her fit. "Sheikh Mohammed has been lucky in the St Leger, winning the race many times," Crisford noted.
Sir Michael Stoute is hopeful Sea Moon, an 8-lengths winner of last month's Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at York, can duplicate that effort in the St Leger. A couple of the longer chances have celebrity ownership: Manchester United footballer Michael Owen (Brown Panther) and actress Liz Hurley (Census).
In Ireland, The Curragh scheduled the Group 1 Irish Field St Leger for Saturday -- a 1 1/2-mile test for 3-year-olds and up. Ascot Gold Cup winner Fame and Glory heads the six runners expected. The companion Goffs National Stakes features promising 2-year-olds and the day is structured around an Australian theme to promote The Irish Field St Leger as Europe's premier trial race for the Emirates Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup itself will be brought over from Australia to be displayed on the day at the Curragh and one lucky fan will win a trip "down under" for the island continent's big race.
Six stakes events run Sunday at Longchamp in Paris under the sponsorship of Qatar. The Group 1 Prix Moulin de Longchamp at 1 mile and the Group 1 Prix Vermeille at 12 furlongs are the highlights, supported by the Group 2 Prix Niel for 3-year-olds and up and the Group 2 Prix Foy for 4-year-olds and up, both at 12 furlongs. The three longer races preview the Oct. 3 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
