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Three-year-old trotters took another step on the Road to the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks by racing in W.N. Reynolds Memorial divisions on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.
For the second consecutive day, there were no winning tickets in the $2 pick six at Los Alamitos on Saturday, leading to a carryover of $58,051 for Sunday, the closing day of the meeting.
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Two-year-old trotters are not regarded by many as the safest of bets, but all three favorites in the $30,000 divisions of the first freshman stake of the year at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania All-Stars for male babies, got the job done impressively.
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There was a familiar outcome to the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos on Saturday. For the third consecutive year, Sweet Azteca was impossible to catch in the stretch of the race at 6 1/2 furlongs.
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Title Role played the lead character of a spine-tingling thriller in a Saturday matinee at Saratoga that saw him win his North American debut by a nose in the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby.
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It was a stakes double with promising horses in the stable for trainer David Fawkes on Saturday. About 15 minutes after Two Seven O, a claim into the barn last November, won his fifth straight race in the Dade Park Dash at Ellis Park, Viking was a wire-to-wire winner of the $100,000 Smile Sprint at Fawkes' base, Gulfstream Park.
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Two Seven O has climbed from humble beginnings in the claiming ranks to become a consistent stakes competitor on multiple surfaces. The gelding scored his fifth consecutive win in his turf debut with a two-length score in the $175,000 Dade Park Dash for 3-year-old turf sprinters on Saturday, which was opening day of Ellis Park's summer season after delays due to the heat.
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Phileas Fogg led throughout before holding on desperately in the final strides to register a head victory over Antiquarian in the 2025 Suburban Stakes. But there was no such drama when Phileas Fogg returned a year later to defend that title, as he totally dominated an arguably stronger field that included Antiquarian in the 2026 Grade 2 fixture at Saratoga.
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On the tote board for Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Belmont Oaks at Saratoga, there was plenty that separated the two fillies as the public made Abashiri the 6-5 favorite while dismissing Kensington Lane at 23-1, the seventh longest price. This time the bettors got it wrong.
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Trainer Steve Asmussen readily admitted his concern when learning his promising 2-year-old Booked had scratched into the one post for Saturday’s $225,000 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga. Booked had ducked in sharply from the inside gate, losing his best chance in the process, when finishing second in launching his career earlier this season at Churchill Downs.
