OCEANPORT, N.J. – My Adonis got the jump on the pack and held off Macho Macho by a half-length Sunday in the $99,000 Long Branch Stakes for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park.

The Long Branch is the final local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell on July 29.

Traditionally, the first two Long Branch finishers are extended invitations to the meet’s richest event.

My Adonis is trained by Kelly Breen for George and Lori Hall, the team behind Ruler On Ice, last year’s Belmont Stakes winner.

The chance to develop another Grade 1 winner is tempting.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Marketing Mix beat a decent Grade 2 field while vaulting over the $1 million mark in earnings Sunday at Woodbine in the $358,800 Dance Smartly Stakes.

Moonlit Beauty set an honest pace in the nine-furlong turf route, and a stalking Marketing Mix loomed into serious contention early in the lane. She hit the front along the inside just inside the eighth pole and then got home on top by 1 3/4 lengths over Moment of Majesty. Inglorious rallied for third, and Indian Pond was fourth in the seven-horse race. The final time over firm ground was 1:48.02.

ELMONT, N.Y. – An otherwise mundane Thursday card at Belmont Park got much more interesting when no one hit the pick six Sunday, resulting in a carryover of $251,315 entering Thursday’s program.

Belmont is dark Wednesday, normally a racing day, as it will close out its spring/summer meeting with a four-day race week before heading to Saratoga, which opens July 20.

There was a carryover of $62,392 entering Sunday’s card and an additional $331,450 was wagered into the pool.

ELMONT, N.Y. – She likely won’t obtain the status of her Grade 1 stakes-winning younger half-sister Winter Memories, but for one day La Cloche had the spotlight to herself.

La Cloche won her first stakes Sunday, rallying four wide in the stretch under Junior Alvarado to take the $90,000 Voodoo Dancer Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths. Wallis, a hard-to-handle favorite, finished second by three-quarters of a length over longshot Kiss in the Forest.

Sylvestris, Fontley, All Due Respect, and Check Point completed the order of finish.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Narrowly beaten in the Grade 2 Honeymoon Handicap last month, Trois Aureole handled a drop in class to win her first stakes in Sunday’s minor $69,400 Le Cle Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Ridden by Joe Talamo, Trois Aureole ($4.80) closed from fourth in a field of five to win the one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies by 1 1/2 lengths over 12-1 Long Face. Lady Ten, the 6-5 favorite, finished third.

Trois Aureole was timed in 1:36.25.

Jockey Mario Gutierrez, who rose to national prominence after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with I’ll Have Another, said Sunday that he plans to ride sparingly, if at all, during Del Mar.

Gutierrez said he will ride at Hastings Park, with occasional trips to Emerald Downs.

Gutierrez expressed frustration at his lower number of mounts in recent weeks. He traveled on the weeks of the Triple Crown, but has been based at Hollywood Park in the last month.

“I only ride a couple of horses every day,” he said before the races Sunday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The late summer racing schedule for Hollywood Gold Cup winner Game On Dude will not be finalized until next month.
Saturday, Game On Dude won his third stakes of 2012 in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Betfair Hollywood Park, holding off stablemate Richard’s Kid to win the race over 1 1/4 miles by 1 1/2 lengths. The win gave trainer Bob Baffert a sweep of the Gold Cup exacta.

Sunday, Baffert reiterated his plans for Game On Dude and Richard’s Kid in coming months. Both will be sent to Del Mar next week, where they will resume training.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – I’ll Have Another made his final public appearance Saturday before a small but appreciative crowd at Betfair Hollywood Park, just days before starting quarantine for stud duty in Japan.

In between the third and fourth races on the same program as the Hollywood Gold Cup, I’ll Have Another was walked in the paddock and paraded on the racetrack.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mucho Macho Man came out of his authoritative victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Handicap in good order and returned early Sunday morning to his base at Saratoga, where he will make his next start.

It remains to be seen, however, whether that next start will come in the Whitney on Aug. 4 or the Woodward on Sept. 1. Both races are Grade 1, $750,000 events run at 1 1/8 miles.

MIAMI – Trainer Curtis Garrison reported that Field Commission suffered a condylar fracture in his right hind leg during the running of Saturday’s Grade 2 Smile Handicap at Calder. Field Commission was scheduled to have surgery Sunday.

Field Commission, who returned from an 18-month layoff to win the Ponche Handicap here four weeks earlier, was stalking the pace of Artefacto when pulled up suddenly by jockey Manny Cruz nearing the half-mile pole of the six-furlong Smile.