Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:56

Woodbine: Go Blue Or Go Home goes all the way in Highlander

Michael Burns
Go Blue Or Go Home, under Luis Contreras, wired the Grade 2 Highlander Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths Sunday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Go Blue Or Go Home went right to the front and never looked back in capturing Sunday’s $201,600 Highlander Stakes, which was taken off the turf just before the race because of heavy rainfall.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:38

Belmont Park: Jacobson sets record for wins at spring-summer meet

NYRA photo
David Jacobson had a record 41 wins at the Belmont spring-summer meet through Sunday.

David Jacobson’s domination at this meet hit record-setting status Sunday, when Abra won the sixth race by 10 lengths, enabling Jacobson to set a record for the most wins at a Belmont spring-summer stand.

Abra’s front-running score was the 41st victory of the meet for Jacobson, eclipsing the mark of 40 wins set by Todd Pletcher at the 2003 spring-summer meeting. There still are four racing days remaining before the action on this circuit moves to Saratoga beginning July 19.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:13

Woodbine: Attfield wins Singspiel again with Forte Dei Marmi

Michael Burns
Forte Dei Marmi, under Joel Rosario, gave trainer Roger Attfield his sixth victory in the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes on Sunday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Roger Attfield ran first and second in the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes for the second year in a row Sunday at Woodbine, with runaway winner Forte Dei Marmi and the up-and-coming Perfect Timber. It also was the fifth straight Singspiel score for Attfield, who has won the race a total of six times.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:03

Belmont Park: Effie Trinket scores in Diamondrella Stakes

Joe Labozzetta
Effie Trinket, under Rosie Napravnik, won the $100,000 Diamondrella Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths Sunday.

Owner Patsy Symons and trainer Rick Violette enjoyed a lot of success with the New York-bred filly Gitchee Goomie, who won five stakes before retiring at the end of last year.

In Effie Trinket, Symons and Violette may have found her replacement.

Effie Trinket, a 3-year-old, New York-bred daughter of Freud, won her second straight race on turf Sunday, taking the $100,000 Diamondrella Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park.

Effie Trinket is 4 for 7, with two wins on dirt, two wins on turf, and restricted stakes victories on both surfaces.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:53

Belmont Park: Moreno likely to go in West Virginia Derby

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Jose Ortiz celebrates his first graded stakes victory as he crosses the finish line seven lengths in front aboard Moreno in the Dwyer.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Moreno, who won Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Dwyer Stakes by seven lengths at Belmont Park, could make his next start in the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 3, trainer Eric Guillot said Sunday.

Guillot said he favored the West Virginia Derby over races like the $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 27 or the $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 28 because it would give his gelding an extra week, and the competition figures to be a little easier.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:43

Woodbine: Solid Appeal takes Dance Smartly Stakes

Michael Burns
Solid Appeal won the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday to improve to 3 for 3 this year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Solid Appeal, who became a stakes winner here in the Grade 2 Nassau in May, confirmed her status as the top older female turf horse on the grounds with a solid win in Sunday’s Grade 2, $202,800 Dance Smartly.

Prominent throughout under Jesse Campbell, Solid Appeal stalked the pace from third place and commenced a rally turning for home that carried her to a two-length victory over the invader Julie’s Love.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:16

Hollywood Park: Game On Dude likely to start next in Pacific Classic

Benoit & Associates
Game On Dude, now 5 for 5 when ridden by Mike Smith, surpasses $5 million in earnings by winning the Hollywood Gold Cup.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Game On Dude will have a clear goal in the second half of 2013 after extending his winning streak to five races in Saturday’s $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“We need to win the Breeders’ Cup,” trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:10

Woodbine: Spin the King by a nose in Clarendon Stakes

Michael Burns
Spin the King (inside) and jockey Luis Contreras won the Clarendon Stakes by a nose over Go Greeley on Sunday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Spin the King, who broke sharply but settled just off the pace in third, came on to hit the front inside the furlong grounds, then had to battle back in the final yards to nose out odds-on favorite Go Greeley in Sunday’s $150,000 Clarendon Stakes.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 13:31

Belmont Park: Royal Delta has sharp workout for Delaware Handicap

Tom Keyser
Royal Delta, 10th in the Dubai World Cup, is headed to the Grade 2, $175,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 15, a race she won last year.

ELMONT, N.Y. – There is a part of Bill Mott that would love to run Royal Delta in the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga on July 20. But after watching her work Sunday at Belmont Park, Mott can’t make a case for skipping the Grade 1, $750,000 Delaware Handicap, which is scheduled for the same day.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 13:07

Belmont Park: Flat Out eyes Whitney or Woodward after win

Barbara D. Livingston
Flat Out earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Flat Out emerged from his 2 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park “good, real good,” according to trainer Bill Mott, who plans to run the 7-year-old at Saratoga next month.

While Mott said he is considering the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 3 – Flat Out finished third in last year’s Whitney – he said he also could wait for the Grade 1 Woodward on Aug. 31 if need be.

“I feel no pressure to run in the Whitney,” Mott said Sunday. “If we wake up on entry day and feel we need a little more time, we’d wait for the Woodward.”