- Coin Collector S. (CT) — Saturday, 3yo WV-breds, 4 1/2 furlongs
- G3 Eatontown S. (MTH) — Saturday, 3yo and up and fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles (turf)
- Donald Levine Memorial H. (PRX) — Saturday 3yo and up, 7 furlongs
- Red Cross S. (MTH) — Sunday, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 6 furlongs[/boxify]
Four stakes are on the weekend agenda in the mid-Atlantic. Among the stories on tap:
- Undefeated Amherst Street returns to action to make his three year-old debut in the Coin Collector Stakes at Charles Town (more here). He’ll face five rivals, including Comeonletsplay, who finished second behind Amherst Street four times as a two year-old.
- Saturday’s feature at Monmouth Park is the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes for older fillies and mares going long on the grass. French-bred Orion Moon is the 2-1 favorite; she most recently ran second, beaten a neck by Waterway Run, in the Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont Park after briefly leading in the stretch. But several rivals could have input to the outcome, among them 2012 Grade 3 Autumn Miss winner Lady Ten, who’s run only three times since that win; Rusty Slipper, away since winning the 2013 Little Silver over the course; Lonesome Town, most recently beaten a neck in Monmouth’s Miss Liberty Stakes; and a pair of runners looking to extend modest winning streaks, Nashly’s Vow (two straight wins) and Dido (three straight).
- An intriguing group of 12 is scheduled to face the starter in the Donald Levine Memorial Handicap at Parx Racing on Saturday. Two runners with eye-catching local records figure to take plenty of action at the windows: defending champ Traffic Light (5-2) has seven wins from 14 starts in Bensalem and enters off an allowance victory at Monmouth Park; and Edge of Reality (7-2), winner of last year’s Grade 3 Smarty Jones, has won four of five starts at Parx. He’ll be making his 2014 debut after concluding 2013 with three straight disappointing efforts. Another intriguing runner — this one making his Parx bow — is Falling Sky (4-1), who won the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February but has run poorly twice since.
- No horses from the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred Poll are in action this weekend.
- A couple of other runners we’ve written about will be in action this weekend. Lady Sabelia is 8-1 in Sunday’s Red Cross Stakes at Monmouth Park. She recently posted her first victory since November’s Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel. The place horse from that race, Flattering Bea, meanwhile, will tackle the tigers in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses at Belmont Park. She most recently ran second in the Skipat on Preakness weekend at Pimlico.
