ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – At one mile and 5 1/2 furlongs, the American St. Leger Stakes is a longer race than North American bettors are used to seeing. But they figured it out. Jakkalberry, the class of the field and the 8-5 favorite, ran down pacesetting Ioya Bigtime to capture the inaugural edition of the $400,000 turf race.
It’s Tricky will go into next Sunday’s $600,000 Personal Ensign Invitational having gone three months between starts. Based on the way she worked Saturday morning over the synthetic surface at the Godolphin training center, fitness won’t be an issue when she squares off against Royal Delta in the Grade 1 race at 1 1/8 miles.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Despite being a champion, one of just two Grade 1 winners in the prospective field, and the primary speed in the race, Hansen figures to be somewhat of a longshot in next Saturday’s $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
In addition to trying a 1 1/4-mile distance that many believe is beyond his reach, Hansen will be racing just three weeks after finishing fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the West Virginia Derby.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Risky Rachel looks like anything but a risky proposition in Monday’s $100,000 Union Avenue Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at Saratoga.
Cutting back in distance and drawn sweetly toward the outside in a field laden with inside speed, Risky Rachel has trainer Juan Coronel quite confident she can return to her winning ways against six opponents.
Two hours after his Jackson Bend escaped serious injury in a mishap on the Oklahoma training track early Saturday morning, trainer Nick Zito sent another of his sprint stars, Fort Loudon, over to the main track to breeze a half-mile in 48.64 seconds under jockey Junior Alvarado in preparation for Saturday’s Grade 1 King’s Bishop.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Francois looked like a good $7,500 claim when he won a $16,000 conditioned claiming race first time out for new connections. He’s looking even better now.
Francois followed that initial success with a win in a first-level allowance race here Aug. 4, and on the opening race of the Arlington Million program he scored a determined half-length victory in the $66,130 Straight Line Stakes.
After beginning his 2012 campaign by running twice within the span of three days in January, the 3-year-old Reserved Quality didn’t race again for seven months. The New York-based Reserved Quality ends his long layoff when he faces older horses in Monday’s featured $47,000, first-level allowance at Parx Racing.
DEL MAR, Calif. – With his victory aboard Lady Ten in the Sandy Blue Handicap on Friday, Rafael Bejarano edged ever closer to the single-season stakes record for jockeys at Del Mar, a mark he seems certain to eclipse before the meet’s end on Sept. 5.
Lady Ten gave Bejarano, 30, his ninth stakes win of the meet, just three shy of the record held jointly by Laffit Pincay Jr. (1976), Chris McCarron (1995), Gary Stevens (1997), and Corey Nakatani (1998). There are nearly three weeks to go in the meet, and he has live mounts in just about every stakes race.
Uncoupled stablemates Al’s Deputy and Pro’s Pal, both coming off a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure, head a lineup of seven New York-bred sprinters in Tuesday’s $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial Stakes at Finger Lakes.
The 6-year-old Al’s Deputy and 7-year-old Pro’s Pal are both trained by Charlton Baker, but have different owners, so they will race as separate betting interests in the six-furlong Reed.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Two-time Grade 1 winner Jackson Bend apparently escaped serious injury after being run into by the 7-year-old gelding Little Nick during a frightening training mishap which took place on the Oklahoma training track shortly after 7 a.m. on Saturday. Jackson Bend was preparing to defend his title in the Grade 1 Forego Handicap on Sept. 1.
