Violence, who was among Todd Pletcher’s 21 juvenile maiden winners at Saratoga, rallied four wide on the turn, drifted in while forging to the lead in the stretch, and survived an inquiry in Sunday’s 38th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct.
Violence, a $600,000 colt by Medaglia d’Oro, raced in mid-pack early as his $1.3 million stablemate Darwin set the pace under pressure from Really Sharp and Vegas No Show through fractions of 22.88 and 45.45 seconds.
My Happy Face, who was nipped in the Frizette after a race-long battle with Dreaming of Julia, was involved in a second straight alley fight in Sunday’s Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct, and prevailed by a hard-fought neck over second choice Cue the Moon.
My Happy Face ($2.60) was the prohibitive favorite with Ramon Dominguez in a four-filly renewal of the Grade 3 Tempted, but was hounded every step of the way by Cue the Moon through fast fractions of 22.48 and 44.87 seconds.
Deniro won the first stakes of his career in Saturday’s $929,040 Los Alamito Super Derby at Los Alamitos, earning an automatic berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions against older horses on Dec. 15.
Ridden by Adrian Loza, Deniro ($9.60) ran 400 yards in 19.40 seconds, finishing a neck in front of Hez Our Secret. Check My Thoughts was third in the field of nine. Flame N Flash, the 6-5 favorite, was bumped shortly after the start, failed to recover, and finished sixth.
Deniro had a smooth trip in the Super Derby, breaking well from post 6.
Trainer Forrest Kaelin made a good call by opting to travel to West Virginia rather than stay at home in Kentucky.
Kaelin scratched his 5-year-old Good Lord from Friday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs in order to shoot for a $130,000 purse in Saturday night’s Mountaineer Mile at Mountaineer Racetrack. Good Lord ($5) justified the decision by drawing clear from pacesetter Mega Rush in deep stretch to win by 3 3/4 lengths.
ARCADIA, Calif. - How did you celebrate your 27th birthday?
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. celebrated his on Saturday winning the richest race in North America, guiding Fort Larned to a front-running victory over Mucho Macho Man in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.
It was his only mount on the day and his first-ever mount at Santa Anita.
"This is the greatest birthday present ever," Hernandez said shortly after he got off Fort Larned.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mucho Macho Man may have finished second to Fort Larned in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, but he was still a winner in the minds of trainer Kathy Ritvo and jockey Mike Smith.
“Honesty, he [Mucho Macho Man] won, I just didn’t finish first, if that’s possible,” said Smith, who fell a half-length short of sweeping the two main events at the 2012 Breeders’ Cup. Smith won the Ladies’ Classic aboard Royal Delta the previous afternoon.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ian Wilkes learned his lessons well. Working for two decades under Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger, Wilkes saw time and again, with horses like Kentucky Derby winners Unbridled and Street Sense, how to bring a horse, step by step, to a major goal. On Saturday at Santa Anita, it was time for Wilkes, and his horse Fort Larned to step up.
Global Stage tracked the pace and was up for a neck win in the $55,000 Veteran at Zia Park on Saturday. Forest Mouse held second after setting the pace, while it was another four lengths back to Forest Mouse in third.
The Veteran, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up, was the prep for next month's $200,000 Distance Championship. The Distance Championship is the richest race for older horses at Zia.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Using sentiment as a guiding beacon is not a tactic that typically produces favorable results. Morton Fink is a businessman, down to earth, totally realistic. But a choice Fink made from the heart, to keep, rather than sell, the mare Lisa Danielle, strictly because she was named after his granddaughter, has landed him the horse of a lifetime, Wise Dan.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Despite having lost three consecutive races and taking on older horses for the first time, Trinniberg saved his best performance for the biggest stage, outlasting The Lumber Guy by three-quarters of a length to upset Saturday’s $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.
