It was 12 35 A M on Saturday in Chicago. I had come home after attending the Friday evening harness race meeting at Maywood Park. There are 13 races on Friday and the first race is at 7 20 P M. The midnight hour was minutes away when the field was let go for the thirteenth and final race.

It is a short drive for me getting home. I switched to TVG, a Racing network that shows racing from around the world. The George Ryder Stakes was coming up at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney, Australia. The mighty Weekend Hussler was the favourite. It was a gorgeous day in Sydney. Weekend Hussler showed out early, took back to be second and then third as a duel developed for the lead. Out of the pocket and surging three-wide approaching the final turn, Weekend Hussler struck the front with 400 metres to run. Then on, it was a hand ride to the finish.

The main event on Saturday at Rosehill, the final day of the Golden Slipper Racing Festival, was the 1200-metre Grade I Golden Slipper Stakes. It is the richest race for two year-olds. Let us pause--it is the third week in April and freshmen are going in a race worth 892,400 British pounds to the winner.

Sebring, trained by Mrs Gai Waterhouse, was going for four wins in a row. Jockey Glen Boss had been summoned from Hong Kong to ride Sebring. In a driving finish, Sebring, the 7-2 choice, won from Von Costa De Hero, Craig Williams up. For the backers of Sebring, several anxious moments were in store. The start was anything but good. Sebring and Glen Boss made the most of an adversity-filled journey to come away victorious.

This is what Glen Boss said: “He (Sebring) blew the start and walked out but it didn’t concern me as he kept his composure. I did not want to go back to the inside but had no option then as soon as he got clear I felt he would win.”

Great Leighs, a racetrack in Essex, will hold its first meeting on Sunday. Since Taunton opened in 1927, this is the first new track in England. Great Leighs has a polytrack.

Saturday at Hawthorne, two Grade III events will be contested. Hawthorne is in Chicago. The Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap, once known as the National Jockey Club Handicap, will be run for the first time. It is the 53rd running of the race but will now carry the name of the legendary Hartack who died last year. The other race is the Sixty Sails Handicap for fillies and mares. Both races are over 1800 metres and carry $200,000 purses.

Here is news about the Kentucky Derby. The Churchill showpiece is two weeks away. Court Vision, Z Humor and Recapturetheglory worked at Churchill Downs on Thursday.

Proud Spell, a filly, may run in the Derby. With $880,000 in graded earnings, Proud Spell who beat Indian Blessing this year, should line up for the Derby on May 3 if her connections choose to go against the boys.

Big Brown worked 1,000 metres in 1.00.6 seconds on Friday at Palm Meadows, a training facility in Florida. Big Brown, three for three, has won these races by a cumulative margin of 29 lengths. Rick Dutrow, Big Brown’s trainer, was pleased. “He (Big Brown) was well within himself, comfortable, no pressure. We are as happy as we can be with him right now. He will work one more time at Palm Meadows and fly out to Louisville on April 28.”

Saturday’s Coolmore Lexington Stakes has a $325,000 purse. The winner receives a little over $200,000. Some of the Derby berths could be affected. Eleven run on the polytrack at Keeneland. It is a race over 1,700 metres. Atoned, Salute The Sarge, Racecar Rhapsody and Tomcito are the leading contenders.

Tale of Ekati will be ridden by Eibar Coa in the Derby. Edgar Prado rode the Barclay Tagg trainee to victory in Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial and has since picked Adriano as his mount in the Run for the Roses. Tale of Ekati worked 800 metres in 49.2 seconds at Keeneland on Thursday.

Big Truck won the Tampa Bay Derby. His next start was in the Blue Grass on April 12. Big Truck finished a disappointing 11th in the Blue Grass. It has been reported that Big Truck will be in the Derby field and will have the riding services of Javier Castellano.

The Santa Anita meeting is coming to a close. The big race on Sunday is the Grade II (turf) San Juan Capistrano over 2800 metres. Eight horses have accepted. The purse is $250,000. On The Acorn is back to defend his title. Shamdinan, winner of the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park last August, makes his first start in southern California.

 Courtesy: NTRA, Racing Post and TV reports