ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The first wave of European shippers checked in late Saturday evening for next Sunday’s Canadian International Day program at Woodbine.
[CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL DAY: Get PPs, watch Sunday's full card live]
Traveling from England via Amsterdam were Joshua Tree, Wigmore Hall, and Dandino, for the Canadian International; Lay Time, who is nominated to both the International and the E.P Taylor; and Night Carnation, whose target is the Nearctic.
Charal Kid earned a berth into the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Saturday night, when he won the first Grade 1 of his career in the $75,000 Refrigerator Handicap for Quarter Horses at Lone Star Park. The race was worth $41,250 to the winner, and also rewarded Charal Kid with an automatic berth into the Champion of Champions, a Grade 1 race to be run at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A Jealous Woman led throughout Saturday's restricted $87,100 Swingtime Stakes at Santa Anita to win the first stakes of her career.
Ridden by Brice Blanc for trainer Francis Meza, A Jealous Woman ($14.20) ran a mile on turf in 1:33.84, holding off a late threat from Lady Ten to win by a length. Byrony, the 3-2 favorite, finished third in the field of nine fillies and mares.
Even-money favorite Fury Kapcori was content to stalk multiple stakes-winning Anytime Magic early and proved best in the stretch as he scored a solid victory in the $75,250 Charlie Palmer Futurity at the Big Fresno Fair on Saturday.
Coming off a six-length wire-to-wire maiden victory at Golden Gate Fields, Fury Kapcori ($4), a son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow, turned in a professional performance in his stakes debut and first race around two turns. It was the first race at the distance for all five 2-year-olds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Coil seems capable of winning Grade 1 races at any distance.
In 2011, he won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational over 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth Park, the highlight of a season of two stakes wins.
Coil had yet to have a notable highlight this year - until the $250,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday. Making his first start at six furlongs in 17 months, Coil won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship by a head over Capital Account.
PHOENIX - After her form tailed off back East, Page Springs returned to the Turf Paradise where she got her career off to such a marvelous start, and the home cooking did the trick as the 3-year-old filly got back on track to capture Saturday's $35,000 Princess of Palms.
The 7-year-old horse Pool Play is competent on turf, and he is even better on synthetic surfaces, having won five such races. But it’s safe to say Pool Play prefers dirt. Before Saturday, he was 1 for 1 on it, scoring a 36-1 shocker in the 2011 Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap. And now he’s 2 for 2.
ELMONT, N.Y. - King David went from a popular commodity at the claim box to an unlikely Grade 1 winner at Belmont Park Saturday, upsetting the $400,00 Jamaica Handicap by a half-length at odds of 28-1.King Kreesa, a 23-1 longshot who set the pace under Eddie Castro, finished second by three-quarters of a length over an unlucky Summer Front, who got stopped trying to rally along the rail under Ramon Dominguez.
Cogito was fourth followed by Dullahan, the 8-5 favorite, Shkspeare Shaliyah and Howe Great. Unbridled Command scratched.
ELMONT, N.Y. - What was supposed to be a mismatch in the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette, turned into a match race that ultimately went to the favorite, Dreaming of Julia.
Seemingly poised to go by My Happy Face in midstretch, Dreaming of Julia had to withstand a fight through the final furlong, prevailing by a short head over a stubborn My Happy Face at Belmont Park. It was 10 3/4 lengths back to Toasting. Nancy O was last.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Shanghai Bobby delivered another sterling performance, winning Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Champagne Stakes by five lengths at Belmont Park.
The win was the fourth in as many starts for Shanghai Bobby, confirming his status as the top 2-year-old colt in the country. Now, the question most people want answered is whether Shanghai Bobby will ship cross-country to Santa Anita for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, a race for which he earned a fees-paid berth as part of the Win and You’re in program.
