Northern California trainer Jeff Bonde had a good day at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Smiling Tiger, coming off throat surgery and making his first start since running fifth in the Grade 1 Triple Bend at Hollywood Park on June 30, ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at 20-1. The Bonde-trained Unusual Way captured the seven-furlong Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Sprint Preview Stakes in wire-to-wire style in her first start since winning the Wine Country Debutante at Santa Rosa on Aug. 11.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Now that Buff Bradley has achieved all his goals with Groupie Doll, including winning a Breeders’ Cup race, he has an objective with another homebred 4-year-old filly by Bowman’s Band – winning a Claiming Crown race.

Fleur de Lilly, bred by Bradley’s wife, Kim, will be prepping for the $125,000 Claiming Crown Emerald as one of the favorites Thursday in the feature race at Churchill Downs, a $56,000 turf allowance at 1 1/16 miles.

Condiment and My Best Bet, who finished second and third in the one-mile Charlie Palmer at Fresno on Oct. 8, will skip Saturday’s $50,000-added Golden Nugget at six furlongs and run Friday in a one-mile allowance.

Condiment’s trainer Joe Brook said he preferred all along to run his horse in the allowance, and would have headed out of town if the race hadn’t filled.

“If the mile race hadn’t gone, I was set to go to Hollywood Park where there was a first-condition allowance race in the book,” he said.

Jockey Alejandro Medellin rode seven winners at Zia Park on Monday to set a record for wins on a card at the Hobbs, N.M. track. Medellin had nine mounts on the program of mixed racing, and registered five of his wins aboard Thoroughbreds and two on Quarter Horses.

“Everything went perfectly,” said Medellin, 36. “Good horses, good post positions, not many problems in the race.”

Is there a star in the making at Golden Gate Fields?

After her victory in an allowance race Oct. 25, Ciao Bella Luna is undefeated after two starts, and her rider Eric Camacho says, “She has what you want in a 2-year-old.”
 
Ciao Bella Luna is a true family affair filly. She’s homebred for Carol and Dennis Yokum (Car-Den Racing Stable) who is also owned by trainer Dennis Patterson’s wife, Theresa. Patterson’s daughter-in-law Christy Wiede is the filly’s exercise rider and is aboard her every day. Patterson’s son, also named Dennis, is Camacho’s agent.

Four of the seven runners in Wednesday’s $71,000 feature race boast experience in graded stakes. As fate would have it, however, all four – Arch Traveler, Convocation, Pleasant Prince, and Schoolyard Dreams – are in for the optional claiming price of $50,000 in race 5.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Americans were to go to the polls Tuesday to elect a president. Eclipse Award voters will have to wait a little longer to cast their ballots. But while there are still nearly two months remaining in the year, most of the campaigning for 2012 was completed last weekend at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup, in which Mile winner Wise Dan emerged as the leading contender for Horse of the Year.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita ended its autumn meeting Sunday after a successful Breeders’ Cup weekend with mixed business figures for the rest of the meeting – lower average attendance and handle ontrack, but a rise in overall handle helped by a significant increase in account wagering.

For the purposes of comparison with the 2011 Santa Anita autumn meeting, the two days of Breeders’ Cup races were not included in the figures compiled by track officials. The 2011 Breeders’ Cup races were held at Churchill Downs.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Beginning this week, Hawthorne Race Course has cut Wednesday racing from its schedule, but the equine herpesvirus outbreak that motivated the track’s decision to switch from five- to four-day race weeks is showing signs of coming under control.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Before Saturday’s $183,000 Maple Leaf Stakes, Smart Sting hadn’t competed on Polytrack since her victory in last year’s Grade 3 Selene Stakes. She reaffirmed her fondness for the surface with a decisive score over a closing Imperial Pippin in the 10-furlong fixture.

The Maple Leaf was the first win of the year for Smart Sting, who finished fourth in two Grade 3 turf stakes in the United States, before ending up sixth here in the Grade 2 Canadian.