ARCADIA, Calif. - A $40,000 summertime claim turned into a $300,000 stakes winner on Saturday.
Tiz a Minister, claimed at Del Mar last summer, pulled an upset win in Saturday’s $300,000 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes for California-breds at Santa Anita.
Now that he has discovered life in the penthouse, Delaunay appears to have no interest in returning to his former blue-collar existence.
Saturday at Fair Grounds, the reformed claimer won his fourth straight race, all stakes, and his fifth stakes since owner Maggi Moss and trainer Tom Amoss claimed him for $40,000 last May 12 at Churchill Downs. Delaunay blasted out of post 1 and never looked back, capturing the $75,000 F.W. Gaudin Memorial Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths over Gantry.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Itsmyluckyday ran back to his huge performance in the Gulfstream Park Derby on New Year’s Day, and then some, when upsetting reigning Eclipse Award champion Shanghai Bobby and setting a new track record in the process in Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.
Itsmyluckyday completed a mile and one-sixteenth in 1:41.81 - slashing .54 seconds off the old mark set by Endorsement one year earlier - en route to his two-length victory over Shanghai Bobby. It was another 11 1/2 lengths further back to the tiring Clearly Now in third.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Apprehender became the first stakes winner for his multiple Grade 1-winning dam, Missy’s Mirage, when he set a pressured pace and prevailed in the $60,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. It was a length back in second to Alsvid, who finished 2 ¼ lengths clear of third-place finisher Laurie’s Rocket.
ARCADIA, Calif. Qiaona started her career in a $25,000 claimer for maidens at Pleasanton last June, finishing third after a slow start. There were clues that day as to what she would accomplish at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Making her third stakes appearance, Qiaona ($48.60) closed nearly 14 lengths in the final quarter-mile to pull off a surprise win over an unlucky Unusual Way in the $300,700 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies going a mile.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tiz Flirtatious did not need her best effort to win the $100,000 Valentine Dancer Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
On the backstretch of the one-mile turf race for California-bred fillies and mares, Tiz Flirtatious was in fifth place and red-hot jockey Rafael Bejarano was ultra-confident about his mount’s chances.
“I was in the perfect place,” he said. “When I found my position at the three-eighths pole, I knew she’d have a big kick in the stretch.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Smartys Emperoress closed like a blur through the late stages of Saturday's $75,000 Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and emerged with a nose upset in the five-furlong turf race in a contest that saw the first seven horses separated by less than two lengths at the finish.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Kauai Katie continued her dominance in one-turn races when cruising to an easy 5 ½-length victory over the Grade 1-placed My Happy Face in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
ARCADIA, Calif .- A half-dozen races into her career, Fiftyshadesofhay is showing the promise long expected of the 3-year-old filly.
Saturday at Santa Anita, she won her first stakes in the $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes, pulling away in the stretch on a wet-fast track to win by 5 3/4 lengths over 2-1 Heir Kitty.
Fiftyshadesofhay ($14.40) stalked pacesetter Escape Act for the first half-mile before taking the lead. Staying near the front on a track that retained moisture after two days of rain was key to victory, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Twice the Lady, who finished second in two prior starts on the inner track, grabbed the brass ring in Saturday’s $75,000 Affectionately Stakes at Aqueduct, but only after surviving a stewards’ inquiry and objections by the jockey and trainer of the runner-up, Withgreatpleasure.
