Three-year-old fillies get the holiday stakes party started in Wednesday’s $80,000 Stardusk, an overnight event scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf. The Stardusk is race 4, and begins the pick six at 1:47 p.m. Eastern.
Pianist, fourth as the 9-10 favorite in a division of Keeneland’s Valley View last month, may be odds-on again for trainer Chad Brown, who looks to add to his leading total of 55 grass wins in New York this year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kelly Breen returned to south Florida before either of his horses who ran Saturday at Delta Downs – Bern Identity, who ran second in the Delta Jackpot, and Pants On Fire, who finished sixth as the 3-5 favorite in the Delta Mile. Both of them were still on the road to Palm Meadows on Monday morning.
Three other stakes support the $200,000 Fabulous Strike on Wednesday night at Penn National, and they make up the first three legs of an all-stakes pick four that ends with the feature race.
The pick four kicks off with the $75,000 Blue Mountain for 2-year-old Pennsylvania-bred fillies, and is followed by the $100,000 Swatara for older horses going 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 Daylily for female sprinters.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Afleeting Lady will try to give Dale Romans his 19th graded stakes victory of the year while making for a memorable Thanksgiving holiday when she starts as a major contender Thursday in the Grade 2, $150,000 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Afleeting Lady is in peak form, having won the first two stakes of her 19-race career coming into the Falls City: the Sept. 3 Lady’s Secret at Monmouth Park, and the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm on Oct. 27 at Belmont Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The turn of the calendar from 2011 to 2012 brought misfortune to a filly named Applauding. A phenom from her very first start last fall, when she broke the Polytrack record for 6 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland, Applauding has gone unraced all year after suffering from what trainer Al Stall Jr. described as a “systemic” illness.
A millionaire sprinter who has raced exclusively on turf this season, a Grade 1 winner who disliked the sandy surface at Santa Anita when shipped west for the Breeders’ Cup, and a 3-year-old who barely missed winning a $350,000 stakes while facing older horses for the first time are part of an intriguing lineup for Penn National’s pre-Thanksgiving feature on Wednesday night.
The $200,000 Fabulous Strike Handicap at six furlongs, the last and richest of four stakes on a holiday eve card, attracted Ben’s Cat, Poseidon’s Warrior, and Il Villano.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nipissing was 3 for 3, all under her regular rider Steven Bahen, and her four opponents looked to be in deep water here in Sunday’s $125,000 South Ocean, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies.
“I think she was much the best on paper,” said Rachel Halden, who conditions the homebred Nipissing for the Chiefswood Stable of Robert and Mark Krembil. “Steve and I discussed it, and decided he just should ride her like she was the best horse and stay out of trouble. That’s what he did.”
Calypsonoted, a 2-year-old filly bred, owned and trained by Eric Jensen, captured the $25,000 Don Jackson Futurity, the headline event at Oregon Championship Day for statebreds at Portland Meadows on Sunday, after a stretch-long duel with pacesetting Captainnotsosober.
The filly ran against males in the one-mile race only because the day's scheduled race for 2-year-old fillies, the Debutante, did not fill.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Going for a Spin closed with a wide rally to win her second stakes of 2012 in Sunday’s $78,200 Cat’s Cradle Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Going for a Spin swept past deep stretch leader Cayanna in the final furlong to win by 3 3/4 lengths, finishing 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:31.62.
Cayanna finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of Willa B Awesome, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in March. Sparking Style, the 4-5 favorite, finished sixth in a field of seven California-bred fillies and mares.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Nipissing, the 1-10 favorite, extended her unbeaten record to four races Sunday at Woodbine with an easy score in the $125,000 South Ocean Stakes.
Nipissing raced on the outside in third on the backstretch, as Seeking Toussaud set honest fractions in the 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies.
Nipissing hit the front at the quarter pole, and then gradually drew away to prevail by four lengths over Otonabee, who like Nipissing, is owned by Chiefswood Stable. Dancing Bay finished third in the five-horse field.
