FLORENCE, Ky. – The 3 1/2-length victory by Went the Day Well in the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes on Saturday at Turfway Park certainly has his connections pumped for the 138th Kentucky Derby on May 5. What remains to be answered in the coming weeks, however, is whether the colt will have another race in the interim before proceeding to Churchill Downs.
PHOENIX - Any doubts that Derive is hands-down horse of the meet at Turf Paradise were put to rest when the 6-year-old son of Cozzene captured Saturday’s $35,000 Coyote Handicap, his sixth win in as many starts at the meet, including three stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Dynamic Host was claimed for $40,000 at Del Mar last summer, a purchase price that trainer Art Sherman thought would be a deal if the gelding could be competitive for $50,000.
Saturday at Santa Anita, Dynamic Host won his first stakes in the $150,000 Tokyo City Cup over 1 1/2 miles on the main track. The victory was worth $90,000 to the partnership that owns the 6-year-old, putting them firmly in the positive column for their investment. They have collected $116,840 in winnings since claiming Dynamic Host.
There was no doubting the two best fillies in the Happy Ticket Stakes: Speedacious and Inspired finished almost six lengths ahead of the third-place horse. But between those two there was nothing, and the $72,750 Happy Ticket Stakes, rained from turf onto dirt Saturday at Fair Grounds will go down as a tie.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - City Sage invaded Oaklawn Park from New Mexico and proved a sharp, front-running winner of the $75,000 Hot Springs Stakes before a Saturday crowd of 18,385. He won by a neck over Our Dark Knight, while it was another four lengths back in third to Chief of Affairs.
The Hot Springs was the local prep for the Grade 3, $250,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, and a decision on whether City Sage advances to that race will be made at a later time, said winning trainer Kelly Von Hemel.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bill Mott continued his dominance of Gulfstream Park's Pan American, winning the 1 1/2-mile turf fixture for the fifth time on Saturday with Newsdad, who rallied to a popular two-length victory over Hailstone in a race that scratched down to only four starters.
Mott, who was not in attendance, sent out two of the four runners in the Pan American, which was upgraded from a Grade 3 to a Grade 2 this season. He also trains Harrods Creek, who set the early pace in his first start of the year.
FLORENCE, Ky. – A year after Summer Soiree dominated the Grade 3 Bourbonette Oaks in front-running fashion, In Lingerie did her best to replicate that performance Saturday at Turfway, going to the front and increasing her lead to the wire.
After being a little hesitant to load in the gate, In Lingerie did everything perfectly, cruising to the front under John Velazquez and never being threatened. She won by six lengths over stablemate Dancing Solo, with Toxis another 5 1/2 lengths back in third.
What do you do for an encore?
Risky Rachel, the first-ever starter for new trainer Juan “Manny” Coronel, rolled to a popular score in Saturday’s $75,000 Broadway Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares.
“It’s amazing. It’s like a dream come true,”’ said Coronel, who was an assistant to Risky Rachel’s former trainer, Jim Bond. “She has speed, which made a huge difference.”
FLORENCE, Ky. – Team Valor International president Barry Irwin was enjoying a heavy dose of déjà vu in the immediate aftermath of the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes on Saturday at Turfway Park.
“That wasn’t horrible, was it?” a giddy Irwin asked rhetorically after watching Went the Day Well carry the Team Valor silks to a 3 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 3, $500,000 Turfway showcase.
