VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Heavily favored Taylors Deal stamped himself as the early local favorite for the Grade 3, $200,000 British Columbia Derby with a 5 1/4-length win over Wilo Kat in the $50,000 Stellar’s Jay at Hastings Monday. High End Man, who dueled with Unquiet for the early lead, held on to finish third in the 1 1/16-mile race.
Heavily favored Commander paid $2.20 for his dominating win in the $50,000 Don Fleming Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at Northlands Park on Monday.
Mario Gutierrez put Commander on the lead in the 1 1/16-mile race, and after coasting through moderate fractions of 24.80 seconds, 49.00, and 1:13.80 he started to pull away from the field on the stretch turn. Without any serious urging by Gutierrez, Commander drew off to win by 7 1/4 lengths over Footprint, who chased him the whole way. Real Dingo rallied to finish third in the five-horse field.
The final time was 1:45.00.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - All-sources handle is up while ontrack business is flat through the first 16 days of the Saratoga meet compared with last year at this time.
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All-sources handle, which includes wagers placed on-track from simulcast outlets, is $233,380,247, a daily average of $14,586,265, up 7.6 percent from 2011.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Poseidon's Warrior came out of his 36-1 victory in Sunday's Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in good order and will most likely make his next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego here on Sept. 1, trainer Butch Reid said.
"I think three-quarters is his best distance, but we might try and squeeze an extra eighth of a mile out of him if all is well," said Reid, who won his first Grade 1 in the Vanderbilt. "He ate up last night and looked great this morning."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Already this meet trainer Tony Dutrow has won a graded stakes for 2-year-olds with a horse who won its maiden at Parx.
Sunday, Southern Honor will try to follow in the hoofprints of Schuylerville winner So Many Ways when he starts in the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special for colts and geldings.
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Hometown hero Balooga Bull ($14.90), who had lost some of his luster when he weakened to finish third in the 1 1/16-mile Harry Jeffrey, rebounded with a vengeance to score a 9 1/4-length victory in Monday's 1 1/8-mile Manitoba Derby.
Bounding out of the gate under rider Paul Nolan, Balooga Bull zipped through an opening quarter-mile in 22.20 seconds, a half in 46.20, and three-quarters in 1:11.60 en route to a final clocking of 1:51.80.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was a terrific start to what will most certainly be a memorable week for jockey John Velazquez and trainer Roger Attfield.
Despite a wide trip, Velazquez guided the Attfield-trained Kissable to a four-length victory in Monday's $100,000 Waya Stakes over a yielding inner turf course at Saratoga.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Carrying 128 pounds, Taylor Said scored an easy 6 1/4-length victory over Tommy Danzigger in the $75,000 B.C. Cup Classic at Hastings on Monday. Sent off as the heavy favorite in the five-horse field Taylor Said paid $2.80.
AUBURN, Wash. - A pair of stablemates turned the $49,500 Angie C Stakes into a veritable match race Sunday at Emerald Downs. Goin to the Window prevailed by a length over Blueberry Smoothie in the meeting's first open stakes race for 2-year-old fillies, and the top two, trained by Tom Wenzel for Jerre Paxton's Northwest Farms, were more than 10 lengths clear of the other four runners.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario—Royal Egbert led throughout Monday’s $125,000 Shepperton Stakes, upsetting his 1-5 stablemate Gypsy Ring in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired runners at Woodbine.
Royal Egbert set moderate fractions on the outside while being pressed by Raincoats’ntuxedos. He began to draw off early in the stretch, and then coasted home on top by four lengths, in 1:16.65. Executive Five outran Raincoats’ntuxedos for third. After finishing a non-threatening fourth, Gypsy Ring was vanned off, but didn’t appear to suffer a serious injury.
