OCEANPORT, N.J. – Bella Castani puts a two-race winning streak on the line as the solid favorite on Monday in the Little Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Monmouth Park.
The Little Silver and Red Cross for female sprinters, both worth $60,000, are the leading events on the 11-race holiday card starting at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
After a maiden win at Gulfstream Park, Bella Castani headed north to Belmont Park for a rallying victory in the Tweedside Stakes as the 4-5 choice.
Trainer David Jacobson doesn’t bring many horses to race at Finger Lakes, but when he does, he frequently wins.
Since 2009, Jacobson has gone 6 for 13 (46 percent) with horses shipped to the western New York racetrack. He has a good shot to pad his already-impressive statistics when he saddles the uncoupled entry of Be Bullish and Uncle T Seven, who are pegged as the top two choices on the morning line for Monday’s $50,000 George W. Barker Handicap.
ALBANY, Calif. – Monday’s Grade 3, $100,000 All American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields looks like a mismatch on paper.
Millionaire Tres Borrachos drew the rail and has seven rivals, none of whom can match his credentials.
If two Grade 2 victories, a second and a third in Grade 1 events, and seven other stakes placings aren’t enough, handicappers may be swayed by the two straight 100 Beyer Speed Figures the 8-year-old Ecton Park gelding has earned in his most recent starts for trainer Martin Jones.
It almost seems too easy.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Two longstanding handicapping methods will be tested Monday at Belmont Park when Flat Out runs in the Grade 1, $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap, one of the most prestigious races on the New York Racing Association calendar.
Those who subscribe to the horses-for-courses angle will put their money on Flat Out, who is 4 for 4 over Belmont’s main track – 3 for 19 everywhere else – including two wins in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup as well as victories in last year’s Grade 2 Suburban and last month’s Grade 3 Westchester.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Over the next six weeks, trainer Bob Baffert’s runners will be tough to beat in major stakes for older horses on the main track at Betfair Hollywood Park.
In Saturday’s $150,000 Californian Stakes over 1 1/8 miles, Baffert has the leading contender in Liaison, the winner of the Grade 2 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap here May 4. The Grade 2 Californian is the last major prep race for the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 6.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A speed duel between Fast Bullet and Comma to the Top in Monday’s $100,000 Los Angeles Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park may be unavoidable and will be a key factor in how handicappers assess the six-furlong race.
Both 5-year-olds are best when racing on the lead early and could set a blazing pace in the Grade 3 race.
“I’m not going to change his style,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Fast Bullet. “He just goes. He’s fast.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wesley Ward has been careful in picking his spots for Judy the Beauty, and it has served him and the 4-year-old filly well.
Since starting her career more than two years ago, Judy the Beauty has never finished worse than second in her eight career starts.
“She’s always been right there,” said Ward, who owns and trains the filly and has called on the well-traveled Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira to ride her Monday in the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs. “Always.”
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – In racing and training, Tiz Flirtatious is rather predictable.
In her races, she stalks the pace, rallies wide, and wins more often than not. In the mornings, Tiz Flirtatious is not likely to display too much pizazz, with routine gallops and workouts on the slow side.
It may all sound boring, but it works and is why Tiz Flirtatious is capable of winning her first Grade 1 race in Monday’s $250,000 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at Betfair Hollywood Park.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The Chris Hartman-trained Alsvid, a multiple stakes winner of $295,350 in 2012, is the morning-line favorite for the $50,000 Honor the Hero Stakes on turf Monday at Canterbury Park.
Alsvid has been off since Feb. 16 after second-place efforts in the King Cotton Stakes and a $65,000 optional claimer. He has been training sharply at Prairie Meadows, with two bullet works in the last two weeks, but will be making his first start on turf in the Honor the Hero.
ALTOONA, Iowa – Lulu Wong and Conchacer, a pair of horses acquired out of claiming races this year, swept Saturday night's pair of six-furlong sprint stakes, the $60,000 Prairie Rose and the $60,000 Prairie Express.
Lulu Wong ($8.80), a $32,000 claim by owner Maggi Moss at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 18, broke sharply, seized command, and won the Prairie Rose in an unchallenged manner by 3 3/4 lengths over 6-5 favorite Missjeanlouise. Lulu Wong's win was the 33rd of the meet for leading rider Terry Thompson and the 21st for leading trainer Chris Richard.
