All eight of Take It Like a Man’s previous starts on dirt came on fast tracks. Since he trains at Keeneland, where the main track is Polytrack, Take It Like a Man had never even trained in the mud.
Take It Like a Man’s inexperience with running in the slop hardly showed Saturday night at Charles Town, where he came from slightly off a swift pace to score a surprise victory in the $400,000 Researcher for 3-year-olds.
POMONA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill won two races Sunday at the Los Angeles County Fair, including the $50,000 Pomona Derby with Avare, and will enter closing day Sunday having clinched his ninth Barretts at Fairplex training title. O’Neill has 12 wins; Mike Pender has six.
Avare ($21.80) raced gate to wire under Saul Arias to win for the fourth time from 11 starts. He won the Derby by three-quarters of a length over favorite Tree of Life. Second choice Curly Top finished seven lengths farther back in third. Time for the 1 1/16-mile race was 1:44.66.
Wardelle is clearly a mare who loves running in the mud. Although she easily won each of her two previous starts this season on wet tracks, Wardelle was overlooked by bettors Saturday night during sloppy conditions at Charles Town.
Sent to the front by jockey J.D. Acosta, Wardelle easily defeated 6-5 favorite Strike the Moon by 4 1/2 lengths in the $50,000 Pink Ribbon Stakes during the undercard of a 13-race program highlighted by a pair of $400,000 stakes, the Researcher and Charles Town Oaks.
Curtis Stewart and Gordon Wilkinson, who race under the stable name CanMedia Inc., made a quick return on their investment when Wild Crush rallied to win the $50,000 Alberta Breeders at Northlands Park on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up headlined the 11-race Alberta Fall Classic Day card which included seven $50,000 stakes restricted to Alberta-breds.
Trainer Rod Cone claimed Wild Crush on behalf of CanMedia Inc. for $17,500 just 10 days ago and Stewart and Wilkinson banked $30,000 for his win over the 3-5 favorite Silver Baubles in the Breeders.
BENSALEM, Pa. – The much ballyhooed rematch between Travers 1-2 finishers Will Take Charge and Moreno turned into a one-sided affair Saturday at Parx Racing as Will Take Charge rallied along the inside under Luis Saez and drew off to a decisive 2 1/4-length victory over Moreno in the Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby.
Moreno, who was unable to secure an easy lead like he did in the Travers, held second by a neck over Battier. He was followed in the order of finish by Transparent, Fury Kapcori, Romansh, Speak Logistics, and Java’s War.
The Pizza Man is a full-bodied, scopey horse, far from the athletic type that zips through tight holes and accelerates on a dime, but he won the $66,500 Illinois Owners Stakes despite that fact. Forced to split horses in midstretch, then dive to the rail for a final move, The Pizza Man chugged along the fence and won the Owners Stakes by a neck over Mr. Vegas on Saturday at Arlington.
This is the seventh summer Immortal Eyes has been knocking around the East Coast. The 8-year-old gelding is aging well. Second in the 2011 De Francis Dash and third in last year’s edition, Immortal Eyes broke through in a big way Saturday at Laurel Park with a 6 3/4 lengths front-running blowout in the $350,000 De Francis.
BENSALEM, Pa. - There was both delight and disappointment on the part of the connections of Close Hatches after their 3-year-old filly returned from a three-month layoff with a two-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx.
Career win No. 23 for the popular Maryland-bred sprinter Ben’s Cat concluded near the Laurel Park grandstand. Floated wider and wider through the stretch run by pacesetting Mr. Online, Ben’s Cat nevertheless scored a neck victory Saturday in the $100,000 Laurel Turf Dash.
Sittin At the Bar won twice Saturday at Louisiana Downs. She finished in a dead-heat with Kisses for Carrots for the win in the $150,000 Elge Rasberry, and with the victory earned a $100,000 bonus from the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
The Elge Rasberry was one of six restricted stakes on the card. The races were worth a cumulative $600,000. Of them, the Elge Rasberry and $150,000 A.L. “Red” Erwin were originally scheduled for turf, but were moved to the main track after heavy rains hit Friday.
