Lighthouse Bay withstood a stretch bid from 64-1 longshot Ek Haseena and a jockey’s objection to prevail in Saturday’s $125,000 Smart Halo Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Shanghai Bobby inherited a clear lead at the top of the stretch in Saturday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, yet his jockey, Rose Napravnik was a bit concerned.
"Bobby got a little lost," Napravnik said. "Most jockeys, especially in the Breeders' Cup, aren't hoping the horses will come to them but I sure was, because once he saw another horse he will turn right back on, and he turns on unbelievable."
The 3-year-old filly Ciguaraya has been working out at Delaware Park since late August. But it took until closing day of the meet before she got a chance to run there.
Rallying from sixth, Ciguaraya took a 1 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole and hung on by a head over fast-closing Winiliscious to win the $50,000 Crowned Stakes for fillies and mares.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mizdirection knows the way around Santa Anita’s quirky downhill turf course. And trainer Mike Puype, it’s evident, knows how to bring a horse back from a layoff. Making her first start since May 27, the Mizdirection won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, her third win in three starts going 6 1/2 furlongs on grass here.
Boisterous, who notched the first graded stakes victories of his career in the Knickerbocker Stakes and Red Smith Handicap last fall, completed a sweep of those races for a second straight year with a decisive triumph in Saturday's Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct.
Toting top weight of 122 pounds, and conceding as much as seven pounds to five rivals, Boisterous ($2.70) rated patiently through the early stages as Bombaguia set moderate fractions while pressured by Westside Corral.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Steve Asmussen sent Tapizar back to southern California with the kind of hunch reserved for a trainer with more than 6,000 career wins. The colt was coming off a horrible effort in the Kelso Mile leading up to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Mile, but Asmussen knew a switch to Santa Anita might provide a big turnaround.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Odds-on favorite Groupie Doll powered to a decisive victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita, capping an outstanding campaign while waving the flag for small-time breeding operations everywhere.
William “Buff” Bradley trains Groupie Doll, a 4-year-old filly bred in Kentucky by Bradley and his father Fred.
“I bred the horse and the trainer . . . both,” said the elder Bradley. He owns the filly with his son and minority partners Carl Hurst and Brent Burns.
ARCADIA, Calif. - George Vancouver finally realized the promise his connections held out for him as he split horses in upper stretch and drew clear to 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.
Noble Tune, the 7-2 favorite, finished second by a neck over Balance the Books as trainer Chad Brown finished second and third in the race.
ARCADIA, Ca. - There was no lingering to relish a debut Breeders' Cup win for trainer Mikel Delzangles. Just a few hours after winning with his first Breeders' Cup starter, Delzangles boarded a plane and headed even farther from home in France, flying on to Australia, where he has Dunaden as one of the favorites for the prestigious Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
Twenty-four of the previous 28 winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies have earned an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly.
Trainer Richard Mandella believes that trend should continue with Beholder, the one-length winner of Friday's $2 million Juvenile Fillies. That, even though she has just one graded stakes on her record while Executiveprivilege, who finished second Friday, is 5 for 6 with two Grade 1 stakes wins, including a nose victory over Beholder in the Debutante.