INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A patient ride gave Love Theway Youare an upset win at 18-1 in Saturday’s $250,000 Vanity Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park at the expense of 3-5 favorite Include Me Out.
Include Me Out turned for home with a lead of three lengths, but shortened stride visibly in the final furlong, allowing Love Theway Youare to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths with a wide rally in the Grade 1 race for fillies and mares over 1 1/8 miles.
Snow Top Mountain, whose form went sour following a Grade 3 win in Florida four months ago, was rejuvenated by a visit to Virginia in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Edward P. Evans All Along Stakes at Colonial Downs.
No better than sixth in two subsequent starts since a half-length win in the Grade 3 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 11, Snow Top Mountain ($15.40) responded to a change of scenery and new jockey Paco Lopez to take the 1 1/8-mile All Along on the undercard of the Colonial Turf Cup program.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Neck n’ Neck had little right to dominate the Grade 3, $107,100 Matt Winn Stakes, the first or four stakes Saturday evening at Churchill Downs. Wound up in the paddock, he required a shoe repair, and then found himself having to rally from behind a slow pace set by favored Right to Vote.
But dominate his rivals four rivals he did, rallying from third with a wide trip to register a 7 1/4-length victory over Stealcase.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Familiar names, like Third Chance and Cumulonimble, found success on the Prairie State Festival for Illinois-breds Saturday at Arlington Park, but more obscure winners got their picture taken, too, in particular Sandia Crest, who upset the Springfield at 20-1, and Capt. Bullet Bob, who upstaged heavily favored stablemate River Bear in the White Oak.
Dougs Buddy paid $4.60 and kept his perfect record at Northlands Park intact with a game win over Unquiet in the $50,000 Western Canada Handicap for 3-year-olds Saturday.
Trained by Joan Petrowski, Dougs Buddy was coming off a long layoff, and it was his first start since he finished last in the Grade 3 Delta Downs Jackpot last November.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Bret Calhoun won two of the three stakes on the card Saturday at Lone Star Park, when Worldventurer withstood a claim of foul to take the $100,000 colts and geldings division Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity and Circustown Rose wired the field in the $50,000 Lane's End Stallion Scholarship Stakes.
Also on the card, Falling Star won her maiden in the $100,000 fillies division of the TTA Sales Futurity.
A long trip to the northwest corner of Pennsylvania last month merely told trainer Kelly Breen that his filly Srumdiddlyumptious was no fan of the synthetic Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs. Back home on dirt at Monmouth Park, however, Srumdiddlyumptious certainly looked comfortable.
Sent to the lead by jockey Chuck Lopez, Srumdiddlyumptious fought off challenges both early and late to earn her first stakes victory in Saturday’s $60,000 Just Smashing for 3-year-old fillies.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The last time trainer Christophe Clement won the Hill Prince Stakes, that horse went on to win 10 graded stakes, three Eclipse Awards and $6.1 million in purse money.
While it's too early to say Summer Front is the next Gio Ponti, there were times during the running of Saturday's Hill Prince at Belmont Park where Clement's thoughts harkened back to Gio Ponti.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Amarish has had no competition in his first two starts.
After beating maidens by 7 3/4 lengths on May 26, Amarish won his stakes debut in Saturday’s $100,000 Willard Proctor Memorial Stakes for 2-year-olds by 4 1/2 lengths at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Amarish ($3.40) was not seriously urged by jockey Edwin Maldonado, finishing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.55.
“Every time he hooks up with someone, he hammers them,” trainer Jeff Bonde said. “He’s a good-minded horse.”
