ALBANY, Calif. – Using the same tactics that produced an allowance prep win in his last start, Gig Harbor scored a wire-to-wire victory in the $53,000 Oakland Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.
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INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Eblouissante, the 3-year-old half-sister to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, was scratched from an optional claimer at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday after suffering an injury to her hip when she struck a stall door in the backstretch receiving barn.
The incident occurred about 30 minutes before Saturday’s fourth race, and her injury was considered minor by trainer John Shirreffs.
“She took some hide off,” he said. “It’s like a burn mark.”
He’s not perfect, but Saginaw is a "10" after wearing down Royal Currier in Saturday’s 54th running of the $71,250 Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct.
Carrying top weight of 119 pounds, Saginaw ($3.10) tracked second choice Royal Currier from the outside through fractions of 23.37 and 45.83 seconds, put a head in front just inside the eighth pole, and edged away beneath Junior Alvarado to score by a length after six furlongs in 1:09.40 on a fast inner track.
No one could match Winning Image’s speed breaking from the gate and no one could catch her in the stretch of Saturday’s $100,000 Willa On The Move for female sprinters at Laurel Park.
Jockey Jose Caraballo gunned Winning Image when the gate opened and despite a slight bobble, she easily made the front, chased by Red’s Round Table. The 5-year-old Winning Image set comfortable fractions of 22.78 and 46.05 seconds while cruising a length in front of Red’s Round Table, who faded badly in the stretch to wind up last as the 6-5 favorite.
El Padrino, idle since finishing 13th in the 2012 Kentucky Derby, will launch his comeback at Gulfstream Park in Wednesday’s fourth race, a third-level optional $80,000 claiming race at a mile.
El Padrino was an impressive allowance winner to open his 3-year-old campaign here in January as a prelude to his fourth-place finish two months later in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. He has been training steadily for his return at Palm Meadows.
Golden Ticket, who dead-heated for the win with Alpha in the Travers, breezed an easy half-mile in 51.09 here at Gulfstreaem Park on Saturday, his first work since finishing 11th on the turf in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby under Mike Smith three weeks ago.
“I’m just kind of easing him back into things,” said trainer Ken McPeek. “I just wanted to let him stretch his legs a little bit this morning. Right now I don’t have a plan. I just want to gradually work him back up to where we had him during the summer and be patient doing it.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Dale Romans is still a couple of weeks away from the conclusion of an Eclipse Award-caliber 2012 season, but he’s already looking ahead to 2013 with a couple of his promising 2-year-old prospects, Dewey Square and Gulfport.
Runge could get an ideal setup Tuesday in the featured eighth race at Sunland Park in New Mexico. There are a number of front-runners entered in the six-furlong allowance, which is restricted to fillies and mares that have never won two races.
Runge can take advantage if the leaders falter. She has done her best work from off the pace, including in a maiden special weight win at Prairie Meadows in May.
Jockey Derek Bell, a new face at Sunland who is winning at a 33 percent rate, has the mount for Black Hawk Stable and trainer Chris Hartman.
Trainer Cody Autrey went 5 for 8 over Oaklawn Park’s opening weekend last meet, and he plans to have an expanded presence at the Hot Springs, Ark., track for the new season, which begins on Jan. 11.
Autrey will have about 35 horses at Oaklawn, up from the 26 runners he kept on the grounds last season. He said the growth comes at the hands of such clients as James Driver and Charles Fletcher.
“With purses like they are at Oaklawn, Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Driver will have an extra horse or two going into that meet,” said Autrey, 33.