ELMONT, N.Y. - Lido Palace on Saturday joined a select group of horses to win the Grade 1 in consecutive years, but he had to work a lot harder than expected to do it.
Under the whip from the five-sixteenths pole, Lido Palace, the 2-5 favorite, persevered through the stretch under Jorge Chavez and wore down Gander in the final 70 yards to win the $500,000 Woodward by three-quarters of a length before 13,106 at Belmont Park.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Sidelined by illness earlier this year, Expression can make up for lost time with a victory in Monday's $100,000 I'm Smokin Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar.
Expression won a maiden race at Hollywood Park on May 8, but suffered a bout with colic that forced him to the sidelines in late spring. When he returned in the Graduation Stakes on July 31, he finished third, 6 1/2 lengths behind Icecoldbeeratreds.
"He could have been second, but the winner was too good," trainer Jean Pierre Dupuis said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Imperial Gesture is making up for lost time at the right time.
A bust in the Kentucky Oaks when she was bumped at the start, and away for most of the summer due to lack of conditioning, Imperial Gesture put together her second straight powerful performance Saturday by rolling to a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1, $250,000 Gazelle Handicap at Belmont Park.
Take Charge Lady, who chased Imperial Gesture around the track, settled for second, six lengths ahead of 7-5 favorite Bella Bellucci.
ELMONT, N.Y. - With Anticipation has been involved in some exciting finishes this year, and his win in Saturday's $500,000 at Belmont Park was no exception.
With Anticipation, the 4-5 favorite, looked like he was beaten early in the stretch, but the 7-year-old found another gear and blew by pacesetter Balto Star in the final yards for a length victory.
ELMONT, N.Y. - On a special Monday card at Belmont Park, a first-level allowance race for turf runners serves as the feature of the nine-race program.
Monday is normally a dark day, but the New York Racing Association opted to close its doors instead on Wednesday in honor of the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ten 3-year-olds and older males entered the eighth race, which has a $48,000 purse and will be run at 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf. With a forecast for dry and warm weather, the condition of the turf figures to be firm.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - His odds just kept falling lower and lower - 6-5 at post time - and then Sharp Impact showed why. Finishing resolutely under jockey Ray Sibille, Sharp Impact beat the Illinois-bred Wiggins by three-quarters of a length Saturday in the $75,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Arlington Park.
DEL MAR, Calif. - There are likely to be only three opponents facing trainer Bob Baffert's five starters in Wednesday's $250,000 Del Mar Futurity.
Only Outta Here, a stakes-placed maiden, and maiden race winners Gentlemen's Club and Total Advantage will attempt to dethrone Baffert, who is seeking his seventh consecutive win in the seven-furlong Futurity.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Russell Baze, the nation's leading rider in races won, is looking forward to Monday's seventh race at Bay Meadows.
He will be aboard Hippogator in a 5 1/2-furlong race as the 2-year-old filly makes her debut for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
Baze, who still works harder than almost any other rider in northern California, has worked Hippogator. He's not predicting victory, but he likes the way Hippogator, a daughter of Dixieland Band out of the stakes-winning Sunshine Forever mare Gastronomical, has worked.
MIAMI - Elvi Gamble and Flying Birdie have been two of the fastest female turf horses on the Calder grounds this summer. But both turned in disappointing performances in the Irish Vol Handicap here last month, and they will have to prove themselves again in Monday's $40,000 Reign Dance Handicap.
