A long walk back to the hotel followed by a ride to the airport and a cross-country flight to San Diego gave Ahmed Zayat, the owner of American Pharoah, plenty of time to reassess the gut reaction he had Saturday immediately following the Travers Stakes, when he raised the possibility of retiring the Triple Crown winner, but when the plane touched down, he still was leaning the same direction.
Flintshire came out of his blowout win in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Saturday in excellent shape and will be headed back to France to prepare for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Oct. 4.
Contention runs deep Sunday at Saratoga in the late pick three, a three-race turf sequence, and the opinion here is to use three to five horses in each leg while emphasizing certain runners.
Stalking the early leader under regular rider Shane Laviolette, Prairie Meadows invader Flashy Appeal kicked strongly clear through the stretch to capture the $75,000 Starlet Stakes on Saturday night at Evangeline Downs. Both the Starlet, for 2-year-old fillies, and its companion co-feature, the $75,000 Star for colts and geldings, were restricted to graduates of the Stars of Tomorrow Sale held at Evangeline in March.
Nun the Less produced a potent four-wide stretch kick to reel in Gallery for a one-length win Saturday night in the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby.
Apprentice Harry Hernandez could be sidelined for two months after being injured in the final race Friday at Gulfstream Park, according to a release from the track. Hernandez was off his mounts Saturday.
Undefeated Control The Moment powered home to a most impressive Metro Pace elimination victory at 1-5 and stamped himself as the clear-cut one to beat in the C$685,000 final on September 5. Voracity and Betting Line also won eliminations on Saturday night at Mohawk to earn the right to choose their posts next Saturday.
Trainer Ron Burke captured both $40,000 Yonkers Trot eliminations on Saturday night, with Colonial Trot winner Crazy Wow scoring out of the pocket for driver Tim Tetrick in the first and Yannick Gingras reining Habitat in the second. Murderers Row and Purrfect Bags also won finals on the card.
With a half-mile to run in Saturday’s 146th Travers Stakes at raucous Saratoga, trainer Bob Baffert knew his Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, was in trouble. The body language emanating from jockey Victor Espinoza and how hard he had to ride the horse to keep him in front was telling.
The debuting Marquee Miss made short work of nine rivals in the $75,000 Arlington-Washington Lassie on Saturday at Arlington.
