Apprentice rider Yomar Ortiz and trainer Hugh McMahon finished atop the standings for the winter meet at Laurel Park that ended Saturday.
Ortiz, 21, topped the jockey standings with 57 first-place finishes, six more than fellow apprentice Trevor McCarthy. Ortiz had 16 multiple win days during the meet, including four three-win afternoons.
“It was a battle until the end,” Ortiz said. “Trevor McCarthy was winning races at a high rate and it wasn’t settled into the last couple days.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Dreaming of Julia who was so dominant in winning the first two starts of her career resurfaced Saturday at Gulfstream Park with a jaw-dropping 21 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gulfstream Oaks, stamping her as one of the favorites for the Kentucky Oaks.
Stalking the pacesetter Live Lively - who defeated Dreaming of Julia in the Davona Dale here in February - Dreaming of Julia eased past that rival leaving the three-furlong pole then widened her margin at will through the stretch with jockey John Velazquez barely asking her to run.
NEW ORLEANS – Running closer the pace than usual, longshot Lee’s Spirit showed punch when it counted in the Fair Grounds stretch and won the $60,000 Costa Rising Stakes for older Louisiana-breds on Saturday in a head-bobbing finish by a nose over Populist Politics.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher waited until the last minute before deciding to run Ciao Bella in Saturday’s $150,000 Rampart rather than hold her out for next week’s $250,000 Ruffian in New York. And it didn’t take more than a half-mile before Pletcher pretty much knew he’d made the right choice.
A pair of fillies who were stakes-placed as 2-year-olds last season and another whose half-sister was a two-time Grade 1 winner with earnings of more than $1 million will compete in quest of their second career victory in the last of three allowance races on Tuesday night’s program at Charles Town.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Travelin Man rebounded from his only bad performance at Gulfstream Park last month by recording a repeat victory in Saturday’s $75,000 Sir Shackleton Stakes.
Under Rosie Napravnik, Travelin Man rallied inside of pace-setting Action Andy in upper stretch and galloped home a four-length winner.
Action Andy finished second by 6 1/2 lengths over Spring Hill Farm. He was followed in the order of finish by Whiskey Rebellion, Bellefire and Capt. Candyman Can. Soaring Stocks and Guam Typhoon scratched.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Rosengold won his second consecutive turf stakes – and showed a new dimension – with a sharp victory as the favorite in Friday’s $72,800 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile on turf.
Ridden by Martin Garcia, Rosengold stalked pacesetter Meringue Pie for the first six furlongs, took the lead in early stretch and won by a half-length over Procurement, the 5-2 second choice. Rosengold was timed in 1:34.20. In his previous two wins, Rosengold went wire to wire.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Power Broker has been something of a forgotten horse in recent months, even if he was a Grade 1 winner as a 2-year-old last September.
He can make up for lost time in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby.
[DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with odds and video]
The millionaire West Virginia-bred Russell Road will make a rare road trip from his Charles Town base when he launches his 7-year-old campaign in Monday night’s $37,100 feature at Mountaineer Racetrack.
Russell Road will be cutting back from 1 1/8 miles to 5 1/2 furlongs and making his first start since November in Monday’s eighth race, a no-conditions allowance that drew a full field of 10 older horses.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There is a pick-six carryover of $49,844 on Saturday’s nine-race program at Santa Anita.
Saturday’s pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.
There are two $200,000 stakes for 3-year-old California-breds that are part of the pick-six races – the Evening Jewel Stakes for fillies and the Echo Eddie Stakes. Each race has 11 entrants.
