Bold Captain came from off the pace to win the $50,000 Governor’s Buckeye Cup by 1 1/2 lengths at Thistledown on Sunday.
Jockey Luis Gonzalez kept the 7-year-old gelding back in the field of 10 older Ohio-bred horses early and then steadily advanced toward the front. Bold Captain ($21.20) gained the lead in upper stretch and was kept to task to finish the 1 1/4-mile race on a fast track in 2:05.82.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., announced purse increases for a number of key overnight categories for its 57-date meet that opens Jan. 10. The increases are being made for a sixth consecutive year at the track, which offers electronic gaming. Oaklawn previously announced a stakes schedule featuring 31 races worth a track-record $6.1 million.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – Departing will close out his 3-year-old season in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, trainer Al Stall Jr. said Sunday, one day after the gelding cruised to a four-length win in the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.
OPELOUSAS, La – Solid Sender improved her career record to 3 for 3 Saturday night as she captured the fillies’ division of the $50,000 John Franks Memorial Sales Stakes at Evangeline Downs. Sweet Alice Benbow finished 2 1/4 lengths back in second and six lengths in front of Streaming Live in third.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It came more than two years late, but Pants On Fire finally found the Churchill Downs winner’s circle.
Ninth as the 8-1 second choice in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, the 5-year-old Pants On Fire rolled to victory Saturday night in the 21st running of the Grade 3, $110,700 Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill. Paco Lopez was aboard for owners George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Little doubt that Dale Romans has “bounced” after his Eclipse Award-winning 2012 season, but an incredible finish to the Iroquois Stakes on Saturday night made up for a lot of 2013 disappointment.
A wild winner’s circle celebration was kicked off when a pair of Romans longshots, Cleburne and Smart Cover, finished 1-2 for Donegal Racing in the Grade 3, $171,750 Iroquois, one of four stakes on a Downs After Dark card at Churchill Downs.
Cleburne, a 34-1 shot, finished a neck ahead of his stablemate Smart Cover, a 26-1 shot in a field of 10 2-year-olds.
Untapable ($13.60) outgamed favored Stonetastic in a torrid stretch run to remain unbeaten in two starts in the Grade 2, $168,150 Pocahontas Stakes, the filly counterpart to the Iroquois. With Rosie Napravnik fresh off the Kentucky Downs charter, Untapable overcame some early trouble when prevailing by a half-length at Churchill Downs. She finished the distance in 1:44.38.
POMONA, Calif. – Edwin Maldonado rode two winners Saturday at the Los Angeles County Fair, including comebacker Majestic Stride in the race-10 feature, but the 2012 meet’s leading rider is chasing a moving target.
Martin Pedroza, the all-time leading Barretts at Fairplex jockey, rode three winners for the second straight day to take a 6-2 lead after two days. Pedroza led the standings 13 consecutive seasons until Maldonado’s 2012 title.
FRANKLIN, Ky. – Winless in eight races since capturing the Grade 2 New York Stakes last summer, Mystical Star emphatically returned to the winner’s circle by taking Saturday’s $150,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon in course-record time by a neck over Preferential.
The winner, a 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, raced 1 5/16 miles on a firm turf course that played quickly in 2:11.30. Owned by Cheyenne Stables and trained by Christophe Clement, she paid $9.60.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Richie Scherer doesn’t have anything like a barn full of stakes horses right now, but Scherer, a 50-year-old second-generation trainer, knows what one looks like. She’s Offlee Good came out of a spring 2-year-old in training sale and into Scherer’s barn, and he gave her the standard 30 days of backing down before going forward. Then, morning work began, and Scherer started seeing something.
“I was working her against two other horses, and she was really beating up on them. I wasn’t sure if she was that good or they were that bad,” Scherer said.
