SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The beat continued for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and the Godolphin Stable on Saturday afternoon at Saratoga after Emcee gave the team its fourth Grade 1 win of the meet by rallying to a convincing 4 1/2-length victory over Hamazing Destiny, the longest shot in the field, in the $500,000 Forego.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Startin Something settled with the second flight along the rail behind the dueling leaders who were getting rapid fractions, overcame traffic problems under a well-timed ride by jockey Deshawn Parker, and was guided out four wide nearing the quarter pole. He then rallied determinedly through the stretch to make the lead late and win by 1 1/2 lengths in Saturday's 28th running of the $50,000, 1 1/8-mile Rose DeBartolo Memorial Stakes at Thistledown, her third stakes victory of the year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tu Endie Wei ($7.50) outran 2-5 favorite Roxy Gap in the stretch to capture the Grade 3, $168,500 Seaway Stakes at Woodbine Saturday.
Tu Endie Wei and Roxy Gap vied for the lead through soft fractions in the seven-furlong sprint. Tu Endie Wei took control along the inside early in the stretch, and then held Roxy Gap and Patrick Husbands at bay while drifting out to prevail by a length, in 1:24.12. Jenny’s So Great finished another 2 1/2 lengths back in third in the five-horse field.
If Michael Dubb doesn’t win the owners’ title, he will at least leave Saratoga with a very promising 2-year-old filly in My Happy Face, who won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on Friday by 21 1/4 lengths.
After finishing second to Teen Pauline in a track-record performance, My Happy Face galloped away from four rivals on Friday, running 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.55 and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 85.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Dominus, a graded stakes winner on dirt, made a smart-looking turf debut Saturday at Saratoga, leading every step of the way to take the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap by 1 1/4 lengths over even-money favorite Data Link.
Jockey Jackie Davis fell when her mount Gato Bait clipped heels in the fifth race at Suffolk Downs Saturday, but was expected to return to action Monday after getting checked out at an area hospital.
According to agent Max Hall, Davis had no broken bones and was expecting to be released Saturday afternoon from Massachusetts General Hospital.
Cash Rules came through as the 2-5 favorite in the $75,000 Darn That Alarm on Saturday at Calder, but it wasn't easy.
Cash Rules held off Liberty Cap by a head in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up, but an argument can be made that Liberty Cap ran the better race.
Cactus Charlie hasn’t had any luck chasing stakes horses such as Rule, Pants On Fire, and Hymn Book in route races. So trainer John Tammaro will change things up by shipping the 5-year-old Cactus Charlie from Monmouth Park to the site of his last victory, Parx Racing, and asking him to shorten to six furlongs for Tuesday’s $50,000 feature.
Winless in nine starts dating to May 2011, Cactus Charlie will try to end his drought when he breaks from the rail in a field of seven entered for a third-level optional $40,000 claimer.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he has won some of the sport’s biggest prizes the last three years, owner Mike Repole still has a hard time letting go of the summer of 2009.
That year, at Saratoga, Repole went winless with all 36 of his starters. It drove him nuts.
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Trainer Bret Calhoun returns Chamberlain Bridge to the Grade 3, $350,000 Turf Monster on Monday at Parx Racing with renewed confidence.
After a disappointing stretch in which Chamberlain Bridge appeared to have lost a step, the 8-year-old gelding snapped back with a pair of strong efforts. He was a sharp closing second in the Arlington Sprint before rallying to win the My Frenchman Stakes at Monmouth Park.
