Tioga: Vegas Vacation, Shebestingin set track records in Empire Breeders Classic
The action was fast and furious Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs.
Jay BergmanAug 11, 2013
The action was fast and furious Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs.
Plain Ol' Willard made quick work of the field of 3-year-old Ohio-bred horses to win the $50,000 Horizon Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Beulah Park on Sunday.
Go Greeley ($4.20) gamely held off a persistent Heart to Heart to notch his second straight stakes win Sunday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Vandal.
Trainer Todd Pletcher had his arsenal of 3-year-old stars out for some work on a picture-perfect Sunday morning at Saratoga, a group that included Belmont Stakes and Jim Dandy winner Palace Malice, Haskell winner Verrazano, and the filly Princess of Sylmar, the winner of the Kentucky Oaks as well as the Coaching Club American Oaks here earlier in the meet.
The Jockey Club will push for federal regulation of horse racing if the vast majority of racing states do not adopt a set of uniform medication rules that has already been endorsed by a handful of major racing organizations, the chairman of The Jockey Club said Sunday at the close of the Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing.
Magical Moon, an impressive allowance winner on turf in her last start, may vie for favoritism along with the stakes winner Funfair and the speedy Lignite in Monday’s co-feature, the $100,000 Coronation Cup, carded at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf for 3-year-old fillies.
Byrama, the winner of the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park in June, might start in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 25, trainer Simon Callaghan said over the weekend.
A day after he made a triumphant return to riding following a four-week break to undergo counseling for alcoholism, jockey Garrett Gomez had a typical start to his morning Sunday.
Saratoga spot plays and live longshots for Monday, August 12.
A one-week turnaround between victory in the Maurice de Gheest and the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois last summer produced only a fourth-place Marois finish for Moonlight Cloud, but trainer Freddy Head’s latest star mare pulled off the quick double this season, hanging on to win the Marois by a nose over English invader Olympic Glory.