Lovely Day won his first Grade 1 race and his fourth stakes in Sunday’s $2,347,348 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan, earning a fees-paid berth for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
La Verdad lived up to her 1-10 odds in the $100,000 Dancin Renee Stakes at Belmont Park on Sunday by winning the New York-bred stakes for the second year in a row while surpassing $1 million in earnings.
Treve was the future-book favorite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October before Sunday’s $448,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. After she won the Group 1 race over a strong field, she became a standout favorite.
Like many other people, I’m having serious second thoughts about the popular current concept of clustering a bunch of stakes on a single race card to create a big event day.
Download DRF Plus handicapping reports for Sunday's races, including DRF Bets GamePlan, the Positive ROI Report, and Key Race Report.
Bent On Bourbon relished his first race around two turns in just his fifth lifetime start for an impressive three-length win in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby.
Sarah Sis controlled the pace under jockey Julio Felix and found enough energy in the last 40 yards to hold on by a nose in Saturday evening's Grade 3, $200,000 Iowa Oaks.
Golden Lad responded to jockey Javier Castellano's urging to wear down the longshot Ecleto Red for a 1 1/2-length score in Saturday's featured Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap.
The rematch of the North America Cup has been set for The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on July 4. That was assured on Saturday night when three elimination races were contested for the Max C. Hempt Memorial. Finalists were also determined for the $350,000 James Lynch Memorial.
.jpg)
Viva Majorca capped a productive Churchill Downs meet for both himself and trainer Ian Wilkes by rallying to win the final stakes of the meet, the $67,750 Kelly’s Landing, Saturday night at the Louisville oval.
