DEL MAR, Calif. – She’s a Tiger will wear blinkers in a race for the first time in Saturday’s $300,000 Del Mar Debutante.
Trainer Jeff Bonde said Sunday that She’s a Tiger was comfortable with the additional equipment when she worked six furlongs in 1:12 last Friday, the fastest of 10 works at the distance.
“She responded well with them,” he said. “It was her best work.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Cross Traffic and Mucho Macho Man, the first- and third-place finishers in the Grade 1 Whitney here Aug. 3, turned in their final workouts Sunday for their scheduled rematch in Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodward.
Daddy Nose Best ran down pacesetter Dakota Gypsy for a one-length win in Saturday night’s $75,000 DeBartolo Memorial Handicap at Remington Park. Dakota Gypsy held second by a head over third-place finisher Ol Winedrinker Who in the 1 1/8-mile turf race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Will Take Charge and Moreno, separated by a nose in Saturday’s $1 million Travers Stakes, are likely to meet again in next month’s Pennsylvania Derby, while Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice appear headed for the Jockey Club Gold Cup as the race for the 3-year-old championship heads into the fall.
Jax and Jill reaffirmed her status as the top West Virginia-bred 3-year-old filly on the grounds at Charles Town by cruising to a six-length victory in Saturday night’s $50,750 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes.
In winning for the eighth time in 11 lifetime starts, Jax and Jill ($2.20) led wire to wire while completing seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:25.98 under jockey Gerald Almodovar. A daughter of Yes It’s True trained by Scott Lake for owner Robert Cole Jr., Jax and Jill has now earned $230,125.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The 10th race at Del Mar on Saturday was declared a no-contest after one horse broke through the gate before the start, causing the starting gate to malfunction and triggering the opening of the stall doors for 10 of the other 11 runners.
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.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Valiant Girl held off Parranda by a head on Saturday to win the $61,800 Omnibus Stakes for fillies and mares going about 1 3/8 miles on the turf at Monmouth Park.
It was the second win in six starts, and first career stakes victory, for the 4-year-old Valiant Girl since joining the Graham Motion barn at the end of last season.
Valiant Girl, ridden by Forest Boyce, started her career 1 for 5 in her native England.
The 11-furlong distance was a question mark for most of the fillies in the Omnibus. Only Seanchai owned a prior win at 1 3/8 miles.
The Juvenile Showcase at Calder Race Course on Saturday turned into the Antonio Gallardo Showcase as the jockey won four of the six stakes on the card, including both divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes with Kathleen O’Connell trainees My Brown Eyed Guy and Scandalous Act.
The stakes on Saturday’s program were all for 2-year-olds, and they were worth a cumulative $550,000.
Gallardo picked up the mounts in the Stallion Stakes races after jockey Eduardo Nunez was thrown from his mount in an earlier race, the $75,000 Catcharisingstar.
Wild Legend took advantage of a hotly contested pace to win the $50,000 Birdcatcher at Northlands Park on Saturday.
Shannon Beauregard had Wild Legend ($19.80) sitting comfortably near the back of the field while heavily favored Mr Know It All, Legend Fortynine, and Western Heritage were battling through honest fractions of 23 and 47.20 seconds in the 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old colts and geldings.
