Weekend turf warrior preview

There are 2 turf graded stakes coming up on Saturday. Firstly, there's the 16th running of the Waya at SAR, elevated to Graded status this year, and worth 200K. This race for fillies and mares was run four times during the 1990’s – twice at 1 3/8 miles (1993-94) and twice at 1 5/8 miles (1996-96) – and was reinstituted in 2003 at 1 ½ miles on the grass. The race is named for champion mare who distinguished herself both in her native France and in the United States. In 1978, after having won multiple stakes in Europe, she came to America and won six of nine starts including victories over males in the Grade 1 Man o’ War and the Grade 1 Turf Classic. The following year she won four straight stakes in New York and California, including the Top Flight in her first-ever appearance on dirt, and was voted Champion Older Female. later that day, there's Then there's the John C. Mabee Handicap at DMR. The Mabee is run on the turf for fillies and mares, age three or older, at a distance of one and one-eighth miles. Downgraded to a Grade II stakes in 2010, the John C. Mabee Handicap currently offers a purse of $250,000. Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the 2010 race automatically qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The race is named in honor of John C. Mabee (1921-2002), a three-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder as owner of Golden Eagle Farm and someone the New York Times Company's subsidiary About.com calls "a California racing icon." Through 2001 the race was known as the Ramona Handicap, in honor of Ramona, California where Mabee's breeding farm was located, and as the John C. Mabee Ramona Handicap in 2002. It was first run in 1945 on dirt at a distance of one mile (8 furlongs), it was not contested again until 1959 when the distance was set at its current 1 1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs). It was . It was run in two divisions in 1965, 1966, 1969 and was switched to the turf course in 1970. In winning the 1971 race, Street Dancer set a new Del Mar course record then won again in 1972, breaking her own record. Saturday is also Whitney day at Saratoga. Friday sees the 31st running of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes a turf route for 3YO. The NMR was incorporated in historic Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1950 and moved to its present site on Union Avenue, across the street from Saratoga Race Course, in 1955. The Hall of Fame was created to recognize and honor deserving horses, jockeys, and trainers. Known as the Gallant Man from its first running in 1985 until 1991, the turf race for 3-year-olds was run at 1 1/8 miles until 1995. In 1996-97, it was run at 1 1/16 miles, and returned to 1 1/8 miles from 1998 until 2010. From 2011, it was again carded at 1 1/16 miles. Update: FYI, the winner was Takeover Target which brings back fond memories of the Australian stakes horse trained by Queanbeyan taxi driver Joe Janiak (and coincidentally, euthanized after a serious paddock injury last month). that's one for the Twilight Zone