Sun, 04/14/2013 - 17:09

Santa Anita: Sister Kate avoids early duel, captures Santa Lucia

Benoit & Associates
Corey Nakatani guides Sister Kate to her first career stakes victory in the Santa Lucia.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Sister Kate won her first stakes in Sunday’s $83,600 Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita, benefiting from a strategic decision by jockey Corey Nakatani not to engage eventual runner-up Candrea in a speed duel.

Approaching the first turn of the race over 1 1/16 miles, Nakatani kept Sister Kate behind Candrea, who set an early pace of 23.22 and 47.22 seconds. Sister Kate ($18.40) trailed by a length on the backstretch, engaged the leader on the turn, and won by three-quarters of a length, in 1:45.22.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 16:50

Pimlico: Spicer Cub's near-miss after two detours a YouTube hit

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
With jockey Xavier Perez hanging on as best he can after losing his irons, Spicer Cub winds up second by a nose despite taking two detours during the race.

A horse who bolted twice while racing on the lead and took a detour in between a parked starting gate and the outside rail at Pimlico has become something of an Internet sensation.

Even non-racing fans were clicking on YouTube to watch the replays of Saturday’s 11th race and the bizarre trip taken by Spicer Cub, a 4-year-old maiden gelding. By mid-afternoon on Sunday, the replay had been watched more than 13,000 times and there were plenty of comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 15:40

Fort Larned fine physically after flop in Oaklawn Handicap

Tom Keyser
Trainer Ian Wilkes said he can find no logical explaination for why Fort Larned turned in a sub-par performance as the heavy favorite in the Oaklawn Handicap.

Fort Larned, the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner who finished fifth to Cyber Secret in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday, emerged from the race in good order, his trainer, Ian Wilkes, said on Sunday. The horse shipped Sunday morning to Churchill Downs.

“He’s good,” Wilkes said Sunday, noting the horse scoped clean after the race and had not been found to have any other physical problems.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 15:21

Kentucky Derby: Arkansas Derby winner Overanalyze wastes no time getting to Churchill Downs

Tom Keyser
Overanalyze received an 88 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in the Arkansas Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -  A day after winning the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby, Overanalyze was settled in at Churchill Downs to begin final preparations for next month’s Kentucky Derby. Rafael Bejarano, who rode the horse for the first time in the Arkansas Derby, will have the mount, trainer Todd Pletcher said on Sunday.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 12:10

Fonner Park Special among six wins on card for Jake Olesiak

Jake Olesiak won six races on Saturday’s 11-race card at Fonner Park to take over the lead from his older brother Jordan in the track’s jockey standings.

Olesiak opened the day with wins in the second, fourth, and sixth races, and then rattled off three straight victories, capped off by a win aboard Diamonds Ace ($5) in the colts and geldings division of the $25,800 Fonner Park Special Stakes.

Jake Olesiak holds a 33-31 edge in the rider standings over Jordan Olesiak as the season heads into its final three weekends.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 10:41

Lone Star: Lasting Bubbles romps in JEH Stallion Stakes

Lasting Bubbles tracked pacesetter and favored Cowgirl N Up in Saturday’s $50,000 JEH Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park and proved much the best in the stretch, drawing off for a 5 1/2-length victory.

With Lindey Wade aboard, Last Bubbles, a 5-year-old mare by Pulling Punches, raced 6 1/2 furlongs in a fast 1:16.32. She paid $6.20.

“She ran the lights out,” Wade said.

Cowgirl N Up easily held second, finishing 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Im a Bear.

The JEH Stallion marked the first stakes victory for Lasting Bubbles, who improved her record to 3 for 5 in 2013.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 10:32

Kentucky Derby: Blue Grass, Arkansas Derby produce two starters apiece for Pletcher, McPeek

Coady Photography
Blue Grass winner Java's War (left), who earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, and runner-up Palace Malice (right) will both move on to the May 4 Kentucky Derby.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ken McPeek and Todd Pletcher swapped exactas, so to speak, in the two big Kentucky Derby prep races Saturday.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Both watched amid a bright and fading spring sun at Keeneland when Java’s War, trained by McPeek, overtook Palace Malice, trained by Pletcher, in the desperate final yards of the Blue Grass Stakes.

Sat, 04/13/2013 - 19:54

Santa Anita: Mizdirection goes all out to win Las Cienegas

Benoit & Associates
Mizdirection won the $100,000 Las Cienegas Stakes by a half-length Saturday for her fourth straight win.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mizdirection won her fourth consecutive stakes in Saturday’s $100,000 Las Cienegas, catching stablemate Schiaparelli in the last sixteenth of a mile to give trainer Mike Puype a sweep of the exacta.

Sat, 04/13/2013 - 19:09

Arkansas Derby: Overanalyze pulls away for Pletcher

Tom Keyser
Overanalyze wins the Arkansas Derby under jockey Rafael Bejarano.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Overanalyze gave his trainer, Todd Pletcher, a third major contender for next month’s Kentucky Derby after he cruised to a 4 1/4-length win in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday. Pletcher also trains Verrazano, the undefeated winner of the Wood Memorial, and Revolutionary, the winner of the Louisiana Derby.

Sat, 04/13/2013 - 18:52

Oaklawn Handicap: Cyber Secret rolls; Fort Larned fifth as favorite

Tom Keyser
Cyber Secret, under Robby Albarado, dominates the Oaklawn Handicap by 5 3/4 lengths.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Cyber Secret gave his owner, Charles Cella, one of the biggest thrills of his 55 years in racing when he ran down pacesetter Taptowne and then pulled clear by 5 3/4 lengths in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. Cyber Secret won before an ontrack crowd of 66,158, on what was the final card of the meet at Oaklawn.