The Dale Romans army of stars was out en masse Saturday morning at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., for key breezes toward their final prep races leading to the Nov. 2-3 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.
Most notably, Little Mike went an easy five furlongs in 1:03.40, while Dullahan went the same distance in 1:02.20 over a track playing noticeably slow.
“I’m just trying to keep them all fit and happy,” Romans said later in the morning.
Imahit and Lady Jensen both became stakes winners Friday night at Remington Park, when they won separate stakes for 3-year-olds bred in Oklahoma. Imahit wired the field in the $50,000 Tishomingo, while Lady Jensen rallied to take the $50,000 Te Ata.
Imahit ($5.20) led through fractions of 22.37 seconds for the opening quarter of the seven-furlong Tishomingo, 45.07 for the half-mile, and 1:09.43 for six furlongs. He went on to a two-length win over Z Rockstar while covering seven furlongs on a track rated fast in 1:22.22.
POMONA, Calif. – Upset winners in both divisions of the Bangles and Beads Stakes on Friday at Fairplex Park helped generate a pick six carryover of $31,604 into Saturday.
Edwin Maldonado won three races Friday, including the first division of the $50,000 Bangles and Beads to extend his lead over Martin Pedroza to eight wins. Maldonado has 23 wins. Pedroza, leading rider at Fairplex 13 straight years, was blanked Friday and has 15 wins at the meet.
An erroneous payout to a Washington state bettor on the pick five at Fairplex Park last Sunday has led to a widespread review of accounting procedures for such wagers in the last 16 months by Sportech, the tote company at California racetracks.
According to a statement released by the California Horse Racing Board on Friday, a bettor at Emerald Downs in Washington received a payoff of$1,118.15 for a winning pick five ticket on Fairplex Park races on Sept. 16. The ontrack payoff was $1,282.50. The bettor notified the racing board of the discrepancy.
AUBURN, Wash. – Don Munger didn’t expect he had a stakes winner on his hands when he put the 2-year-old filly Roveing Patrol into training this past winter, and he certainly never envisioned that J. Paul Reddam, owner of Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another, would pay him $100,000 for his filly after just two starts at Emerald Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After Lunar Victory won five consecutive races, including a good-looking effort in a third-level allowance race at Saratoga, it would not have been surprising had his connections shot for the moon in an open-company stakes race.
But Juddmonte Farms and trainer Bill Mott have opted for the more conservative route and entered Lunar Victory in Sunday’s $85,000 Promenade All Stakes for New York-breds. The Promenade All, at a mile, is designed as a prep for the $250,000 Empire Classic at Belmont on New York Showcase Day.
Trainer Chad Brown said Awesome Feather came out of her 11 1/4-length victory in Thursday’s Nasty Storm Stakes in good order and would do the bulk of her training at Belmont for the $2 million Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
Awesome Feather had trained at Saratoga since early in summer, but Brown elected against shipping her back there given the change to cooler temperatures.
“I love Saratoga, I love the track, but she’s trained well here too,” Brown said Friday morning in his Belmont office. “The bottom line is I have more confidence in the weather down here.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Lady of Shamrock, a two-time Grade 1 winner on turf during the summer, will miss the $250,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 29, but remains on schedule for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2.
Trainer John Sadler said on Friday that Lady of Shamrock missed training this month because of the presence of mucus. Most recently, the 3-year-old filly worked a half-mile at Santa Anita in 50.20 seconds on Sept. 16. She is scheduled to work again on Monday.
MIAMI – Trainer Bill Kaplan will certainly have some big shoes to fill when his champion Musical Romance goes through the sales ring just days after she attempts to defend her title later this fall in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
AUBURN, Wash. – Finallygotabentley and Music of My Soul will renew what promises to be a long and heated rivalry when they start Sunday in the $65,000 Gottstein Futurity on closing day at Emerald Downs.
