ETOBICOKE, Ontario – While studying the field for last Sunday’s Wonder Where Stakes, trainer Nick Gonzalez noted that his entrant, Awesome Fire, was the only member of the field of nine who had not raced on turf.
But Awesome Fire apparently was unaware of the possible repercussions as she closed from last place to score by a half-length under rider Chantal Sutherland in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Quit Worrying has been getting closer to notching her second victory. She might be ready to break through in the lone turf race Wednesday night at Woodbine, a six-furlong sprint for $40,000 conditioned claimers.
Quit Worrying showed promise last year at 2. She was nailed on the wire by a stablemate, future stakes winner Rose and Shine, when second in her $40,000 debut. Two weeks later on June 11 she graduated in maiden special company, but then went to the sidelines until a drab allowance outing in November.
Hurry up, calendar. Where are you early autumn?
An intended race in two months was firmly on trainer Cody’s Joiner’s mind as he watched Terrific Synergy walk out of the winner’s circle following the $217,500 Governor’s Cup Derby at Los Alamitos on Saturday.
Along with owners, the longtime racing partners Billy Smith and Pat Guthrie, Joiner watched in delight as Terrific Synergy ran arguably the best race of his career to win his first stakes in the Governor’s Cup Derby, his second start of 2012.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Last year, Amazombie came into the Grade 1 Bing Crosby just 29 days after a race at Hollywood Park. Given nearly three months between races for this year’s Crosby on Sunday at Del Mar, Amazombie improved upon his third-place finish of a year ago while outfinishing the speedy The Factor to win the $300,000 sprint race named for one of this track’s founders.
Calle Vista made a strong run through the stretch to claim her first stakes victory in the $55,900 Luther Burbank Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa on Sunday.
Jockey Kerwin John settled Calle Vista ($10.60) into a comfortable stride in the middle of the pack of seven fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. He moved four wide in the clear on the second turn, and Calle Vista rallied determinedly to pass her rivals.
Kiss My Hennessy won the second stakes race of his career Sunday at Ruidoso Downs, when he romped by 6 1/2 lengths in the $172,026 Rio Grande Senor Futurity. The race was the richest offering for Thoroughbreds on a $1.1 million program of 11 stakes restricted to horses bred in New Mexico. The program featured four stakes for Quarter Horses.
Jockey Luis Rodriguez and trainer Kenneth Gleason swept both Thoroughbred stakes run Sunday at Arapahoe Park, when they teamed to win the $35,000 Mount Elbert with Dance to the Star and the $40,663 Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Oaks with Miss Suzannah.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Terri Pompay wishes Currency Swap could run all his races at Saratoga.
Pompay, a Saratoga native, brought Currency Swap back to the scene of his finest hour, a popular victory in last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful, and was rewarded with a 1 3/4-length triumph over Doctor Chit in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam. The win was the third in as many starts at the Spa for Currency Swap who also captured his career debut here by six lengths last August.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Even from 3,000 miles away, trainer Bob Baffert has the magic touch when it comes to the $1 million Haskell Invitational.
Baffert won his sixth Haskell – and third straight – as Paynter, the Belmont Stakes runner-up, cruised past pacesetting Gemologist around the far turn and then repelled a challenge from Nonios to win Sunday’s Grade 1 Haskell by 3 3/4 lengths before a crowd of 35,253 at Monmouth Park.
