Mon, 08/26/2013 - 14:59

Del Mar: Pacific Classic score puts Game On Dude in familiar position

Benoit & Associates
Game On Dude, ridden by Martin Garcia, wins the Grade 1 Pacific Classic by a stakes-record 8 1/2 lengths Sunday at Del Mar.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – With six straight wins, five this year, including three in Grade 1 company, Game On Dude has put himself in position to be named Horse of the Year at year’s end, a feat he could have pulled off in both 2011 and 2012 had he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Sat, 08/24/2013 - 21:36

Del Mar: Vagabond Shoes responds to Espinoza's patient ride in Del Mar Handicap

Benoit & Associates
Vagabond Shoed (center) launcheshiswinning under Victor Espinoza in the Del Mar Handicap.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The victory by Vagabond Shoes in Saturday’s $200,250 Del Mar Handicap for turf marathoners was as much a credit to jockey Victor Espinoza as it was to the stamina of the 6-year-old gelding.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 18:51

Saratoga: Dance to Bristol shows her heart in Ballerina win

Barbara D. Livingston
Dance to Bristol (right), with Xavier Perez in the saddle, holds off Book Review to win the Ballerina.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Dance to Bristol had taken the lead straightening for home in Friday’s $500,000 Ballerina Handicap at Saratoga, but the presence of the Grade 1 winner Book Review loomed large to her outside.

Inside, trainer Ollie Figgins III thought to himself, “We’re going to see what kind of heart my horse had.”

Dance to Bristol had enough heart to hold off Book Review by a head and win her first Grade 1 race and earn an automatic, fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 15:39

Saratoga: Royal Delta faces pair of speedy challengers in Personal Ensign

Barbara D. Livingston
Royal Delta, exercising at Saratoga with Rodolphe Brisset, faces two new challengers in On Fire Baby and Authenticity in the Personal Ensign.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Royal Delta regained her spot on the throne of the older filly and mare division with a dominant victory in last month’s Grade 1 Delaware Handicap.

Sunday, she will try to keep her position against two would-be queens – Authenticity and On Fire Baby – in the Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign Handicap at Saratoga.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 15:33

Del Mar: Pat O'Brien distance right in Goldencents's comfort zone

Barbara D. Livingston
Goldencents should be effective at the seven-furlong distance of the Pat O'Brien.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – The reinvention of Goldencents as a sprinter can continue in Sunday’s $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar.

Already this year, Goldencents has won the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at a mile, the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles, and finished a game second in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs here on July 28.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 14:40

Lasix to be allowed in all 2014 Breeders' Cup races

All horses running in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita will be allowed to be administered the anti-bleeding medication furosemide on race day, Breeders’ Cup confirmed in a statement Friday, in a rollback of an experimental policy that had divided the racing industry.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 14:31

York: Jwala connects at huge odds to qualify for Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Jwala scored a huge upset in the $444,000 Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday at York in England, beating favored Shea Shea by a half-length in the Group 1 sprint race.

A 4-year-old filly, Jwala had only made her group stakes debut in her most recent start, finishing last of 17 in the Group 2 King George Stakes on Aug. 2 at Goodwood. Few knew that Jwala, according to trainer Robert Cowell, had fractured an eye socket in that race, and whatever the case, Jwala turned in by far the best performance of her career, hitting as a 40-1 shot overseas, and at more than 80-1 in U.S. betting markets.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 13:42

Gentlemen's Bet training at Churchill toward Vosburgh

Tom Keyser
Gentlemen's Bet will look to rebound from a loss in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt by shipping to Belmont Park for the Sept. 28 Vosburgh.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Gentlemen’s Bet will return to New York for the Grade 1 Vosburgh as trainer Ron Moquett remains undeterred about the speedy colt’s chances of earning his way into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Gentlemen’s Bet was 2-1 when finishing third of five in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga on Aug. 4 for just his second defeat from seven career starts. The 4-year-old Gentlemen’s Bet is back at his Churchill Downs base to train until about a week before the $400,000 Vosburgh, a six-furlong race at Belmont Park on Sept. 28.

Fri, 08/23/2013 - 13:16

Woodbine: Sisterly Love looks to use Belle Mahone as springboard to Keeneland's Spinster

Michael Burns
Sisterly Love has won a pair of two-turn stakes at Woodbine this season, including the Ontario Matron.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Sisterly Love has been a dominant winner in her two starts around two turns this season at Woodbine, capturing both the Trillium and the Grade 3 Ontario Matron at 1 1/16 miles. On Sunday, Sisterly Love will be looking to extend her streak with an eye toward bigger things down the road when she faces five rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Belle Mahone.

“She’s been doing good,” said Mark Casse, who conditions Sisterly Love and watched the Kentucky-bred win the Trillium by 8 1/2 lengths and the Ontario Matron by three lengths in front-running fashion.

Thu, 08/22/2013 - 13:44

Yorkshire Oaks win earns The Fugue berth in Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf

The Fugue won her first stakes of 2013 in Thursday’s $506,000 Yorkshire Oaks at York Racecourse in England, a win that could lead to a start in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France in October.

Trained by John Gosden for Andrew Lloyd-Webber, The Fugue, a 4-year-old filly by Dansili, earned an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita in early November through the Breeders’ Cup’s Win and You’re In program.