The largest field of the four major stakes at Santa Anita next weekend will be Saturday’s $150,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf.
The Grade 2 Arcadia is expected to have a double-digit field, including Akkadian, Chosen Miracle, Forest Mouse, Klisz, Sebastian Flyte, Silentio, Strong Suit, Suggestive Boy, Vagabond Shoes, Wilkinson, and Willyconker.
It was a happy homecoming for jockey David Cohen, who returned to New York for the first time since last fall and won three races on Sunday’s card at Aqueduct, including the $75,000 Cagey Exuberance Stakes aboard Celtic Chant.
A pair of fillies who went off at double-digit odds were among the fastest qualifiers during Saturday’s four trial heats for the South Florida Quarter Horse Derby at Hialeah Park.
The 10 fastest qualifiers, a group led by the gray colt Carverson, will return for the $100,000 finals for 3-year-olds going 440 yards on closing day, Feb. 17. Carverson won the last of four heats by daylight in 21.75 seconds.
ARCADIA, Calif.- Fury Kapcori, second in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park in December, will miss the $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita this Saturday, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Sunday.
“He’s got a little problem,” Hollendorfer said. “It might cost him a little time.”
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Joyful Victory turned the tables on frequent rival Brushed by a Star, when she won the inaugural $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic over that one Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park, and in the process set a track record.
Swift Warrior controlled the tempo early and was full of run late to win Saturday night’s Grade 3, $200,000 Connally Cup Turf at Sam Houston Race Park by 2 3/4 lengths. King David finished second, three-quarters of a length in front of Willcox Inn.
The Connally was one of three races supporting the inaugural $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic. Together the races were worth $725,000, making the program the richest of the meet at Sam Houston.
ARCADIA, Calif. - John Scott needs a fight in the stretch to show his best.
He found one against Kettle Corn in the Harry Brubaker Stakes at Del Mar last summer, a race he won by a neck. He failed to reach the front at any point in his next three starts - the California Cup Classic, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and San Pasqual Stakes - finishing third or fourth in each race.
When John Scott had a two-length lead in the stretch of Saturday’s $100,750 Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita, trainer Carla Gaines feared the race was far from over.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Teddy’s Promise has earned another year on the racetrack after winning her fourth stakes in the $250,000 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Owners Ted and Judy Nichols were debating whether to retire Teddy’s Promise if she was beaten in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares over seven furlongs. The victory swayed the decision, according to trainer Ron Ellis.
“They said if she won this race they would keep her in training with the Breeders’ Cup in mind,” Ellis said.
Melody Lady became the first stakes winner for her multiple Grade 1-winning dam, Lady Tak, when she dominated the $50,000 El Paso Times Handicap for 3-year-old fillies by 6 1/4 lengths at Sunland Park on Saturday. Fraudulentfootnote finished second, 4 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Flamboyance.
Melody Lady ($5.40) was always prominent in the El Paso Times, through fractions of 22.71 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.98 for the half-mile. She went on to cover the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.76.
Casey Lambert was aboard for trainer Steve Asmussen.
The phrase “thrives on racing” has traveled into the realm of racing cliché, which is too bad, because it fits Optimizer so well.
Four-year-old Optimizer started a whopping 14 times in 2012. He hit all three legs of the Triple Crown, took trips to Virginia and Delaware, and made a couple starts at Saratoga. And that was the appetizer course. Optimizer shipped to California for the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 2, went back to Kentucky to race in the Nov. 25 River City, then took another West Coast swing for the Hollywood Turf Cup on Dec. 15.
