ELMONT, N.Y. - Despite a pedestrian pace, Shkspeare Shaliyah rallied from last under Alex Solis to win Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Pilgrim Stakes by one length at Belmont Park.
The win was the second consecutive victory for Shkspeare Shaliyah after he finished a late-running third in his debut at Saratoga. He gave trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal his first graded stakes victory. Shivmangal is also part owner of the horse along with members of his family.
ELMONT, N.Y. - A difficult week for trainer John Kimmel ended on a high note Sunday when Vexor outfought the pacesetting Trinniberg to win the Grade 2, $150,000 Nashua Stakes, likely punching his ticket to the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint next month at Churchill Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Larry Jones wasn’t content with one stakes victory this weekend in New York.
One day after his 4-year-old filly Havre de Grace dominated the Grade 1, $350,000 Beldame Invitational at Belmont Park, his 2-year-old filly Believe You Can rolled to a 2 1/2-length victory in Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Tempted Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif.- Coil, the winner of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and the third-place finisher in Saturday’s Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes against older horses at Santa Anita, will not start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5.
Trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday that he plans to rest Coil this fall and prepare him for stakes at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.
“He’s not at that level yet, to take on older horses,” Baffert said of the BC Classic. “I think next year he’ll be able to.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It’s rare when three stakes races run on the same day at the same track but at different distances and for different genders can produce three starters for the same race. But that’s exactly what happened Saturday at Belmont Park.
In the aftermath of her shockingly dull effort in the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, Blind Luck will be given a rest and will not compete in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, her trainer and co-owner, Jerry Hollendorfer, said Sunday morning.
Hollendorfer said Blind Luck is going to get a vacation, “whether she needs one or not.”
It was ladies day Sunday in sub-tropical Paris, where the autumn temperature ranged near 80 degrees and the German filly Danedream turned in a red-hot performance, leading a female sweep of the top three places in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Dream Ahead won the Group 1 Prix de la Foret on Sunday at Longchamp, but all eyes were on the horse a head behind him at the finish, as Goldikova wrapped up the European portion of her storied career with a narrow loss in Paris.
The 6-year-old Goldikova probably has one dance left, with her fourth trip to the United States likely still in the works next month. Goldikova’s first three trans-Atlantic trips produced wins in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and she appeared to run well enough in defeat Sunday to justify another start in the race.
