DEL MAR, Calif. – Nechez Dawn was purchased out of a paddock sale here the night of July 22 and began paying dividends Friday night by winning her first start for new connections in the $97,670 Daisycutter Handicap for female turf sprinters.
Nechez Dawn was purchased out of the paddock sale by Dave Mowatt, who races as Ten Broeck Farm, and she was turned over to trainer Jeff Bonde.
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Grand Traverse is getting a little long in the tooth at age 9, but his trainer, Tim Glyshaw, says he is racing like a younger horse. On Tuesday evening, Grand Traverse, an earner of $440,000, faces five rivals in a $50,000 optional claiming race at Hoosier Park.
“He doesn’t seem to lose anything,” Glyshaw said. “He’s had a couple of bang-up races lately. I couldn’t be happier about how he came back off his layoff.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After winning turf sprint stakes at Pimlico, Colonial Downs, and Penn National, Sensible Lady will try to shine under the bright lights of Saratoga when she competes in Monday’s $100,000 Coronation Cup at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Mellon turf course.
Trainer Tim Salzman was just looking to get a race into Sensible Lady when he entered her in a second-level turf race at Pimlico in April. It was her first start of the year, and her previous turf try resulted in a fifth-place finish in the Selima Stakes at Laurel.
Lotta Lovin came from just off the pace to win the $75,000 Malvern Rose at Presque Isle Downs Friday evening.
Jockey Pablo Morales bided his time in fourth for the first half-mile before rallying to the lead midway around the far turn in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old filled bred in Pennsylvnia. Morales urged Lotta Lovin to a one-length lead in upper stretch and then held on for a three-quarter-length victory at the wire.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Nechez Dawn, making her first start on this circuit and for new connections after a recent sales purchase, sped to the front and never looked back when winning the five-furlong, $97,670 Daisycutter Handicap for female turf sprinters on Friday night at Del Mar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - On paper, it looked like a sloppy track was the last thing trainer Dale Romans wanted to see for his 3-year-old Quick Wit.
On the track, it turned out to be just perfect for the son of Sharp Humor.
After hooking up with Csaba at the five-sixteenths pole, Quick Wit, a 10-1 shot under substitute jockey Rajiv Maragh, prevailed by a nose over the favored Csaba, under Julien Leparoux, to win the $200,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes Friday at saturated Saratoga. It was 4 3/4 lengths back to Daddy Nose Best in third.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer Bob Baffert has a juggernaut heading to the Pacific Classic in Game On Dude, Jaycito, and Richard’s Kid, but a fourth possible runner for the race, Take Control, has been taken out of training and will miss the Pacific Classic.
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Star Guitar, the all-time richest Louisiana-bred whose connections had been debating his retirement, is calling it a career after winning 22 stakes and $1.7 million. His trainer, Al Stall Jr., said Friday that Star Guitar has been retired and will stand stud next year at Clear Creek in Folsom, La.
“That’s where he was born,” Stall said.
Star Guitar will continue to be owned by Evelyn and Maurice Benoit, who bred and raced the 7-year-old horse by Quiet American.
New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera, currently on the disabled list with a knee injury, was at Saratoga on Friday and presented the trophy for the day’s third race, which was won somewhat appropriately by Regal Strike.
Rivera was in town for a function Thursday night at Siro’s Trattoria to benefit the Mariano Rivera Foundation, which annually distributes more than $500,000 to underprivileged children in the United States and Panama through church-based institutions.
