MIAMI - Musical Romance was run down in the final strides of the 2011 Princess Rooney Handicap by Sassy Image. She wasn’t about to let the same thing happen two years in a row.
Musical Romance capped off an incredible day for trainer Bill Kaplan when she dug in gamely through the final sixteenth of a mile and withstood a valiant try by Nicole H to register a half-length decision in Calder’s only Grade 1 race, the $400,000 Princess Rooney Handicap.
OCEANPORT, N.J .- Turbo Compressor scored a front-running victory in the $505,000 United Nations to give trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Joe Bravo a sweep of the graded stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
One race earlier, they combined to capture the Grade 2, $195,000 Monmouth Cup with Rule.
Turbo Compressor capped the hugely productive afternoon and gave Pletcher a fourth victory in the premier turf event of the meet. He also won with Balto Star (2003) and English Channel (2006-07).
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The Drifter has been one of the most impressive maiden winners at the current Lone Star Park meet, and when he made his second career start Saturday he backed up his form by rolling to a seven-length win in the $75,000 colts and geldings division of the Texas Stallion Stakes.
The Stallion Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, was the first of four restricted stakes on the penultimate card of the Lone Star meet. The races were worth a cumulative $300,000.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Dene Court toyed with her rivals in Saturday’s $150,000 Ontario Damsel at Woodbine, wining the one-mile turf stakes comfortably for trainer Mark Casse.
Dene Court set quick fractions on an uncontested lead, and prevailed by a length and a quarter in 1:35.14, while being eased up late by Patrick Husbands.
MIAMI - Five 3-year-olds went to the post for Saturday’s $150,000 Carry Back, but the Grade 3 dash turned out to be one heck of a match race, with Fort Loudon ultimately proving a neck the best over the odds-on favorite, Trinniberg following a near race-long duel.
Fort Loudon, the local 2-year-old champ in 2011, stalked Trinniberg from the outset of the six-furlong Carry Back and gradually wore the 1-5 favorite down in the final furlong under strong handling by jockey Fernando Jara.
ELMONT, N.Y. - As he walked back to the jockeys’ room following Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park, jockey Mike Smith was equal parts ecstatic and shocked.
He was naturally happy that he won the $350,000 race aboard Mucho Macho Man, but he was stunned with the ease in which the 2 1/2-length victory was accomplished.
“I’m kind of shocked how impressed he was, you know,” said Smith, who was riding Mucho Macho Man for the first time. “You put that bunch in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, your favorite’s going to come out of that race.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Naipaul Chatterpaul was suspended 60 days and fined $5,000 by the New York stewards and could face further sanctions after two of his horses tested positive for banned substances in a span of 16 days in February.
Chatterpaul has appealed the penalties and will be permitted to train until that appeal is heard.
Since the two penalties occurred within a six-month period, the case was referred to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for possible additional action, which the board may deem appropriate.
A memorial service for jockey Jorge Herrera, who was fatally injured in a racing accident Thursday at age 33, will be held Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in front of the racing office at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif.
The fourth race on Sunday's closing-day card will be dedicated to Herrera.
Memorial donations in the rider's honor can be made by mailing checks to Racetrack Chaplaincy c/o Alameda County Fair, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton, Calif., 94566.
Awe Hush and Bringingdown Babel, who have combined to win 10 of 14 starts at Mountaineer Racetrack over the past two seasons, will face off against a pair of multiple stakes winners from Ohio in a highly competitive no-conditions allowance Tuesday night.
The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, which carries a $33,700 purse, goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday’s afternoon live racing program at Charles Town has been cancelled due to a forecast that calls for temperatures in the upper 90s and the possibility of severe thunderstorms.
It is the second straight Sunday that Charles Town has called off its Sunday program because of the heat wave that has hit the Mid-Atlantic region.
Nine of the races involved in the two cancellations will be made up through the addition of a 10th race on the final nine non-Sunday cards in July. The remaining nine races will be rescheduled soon.
