ARCADIA, Calif. – Mizdirection gave Mike Smith his 4,991st career victory in Saturday’s $75,260 Clocker’s Corner Handicap at Santa Anita.
Mizdirection won the minor stakes over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course by 2 1/2 lengths under a hand-ride, a win that Smith said was as easy as it looked.
“I wish they were all that easy,” said Smith, 46. “The whole time I stayed out of her way, all the way to the wire.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Making none of the mistakes that cost her dearly in the Busanda seven weeks earlier, Sweet Seventeen took over from 30-1 pacesetter Marvelous Margaret in upper stretch and held on for a head victory over Off Limits in Saturday’s $75,000 Busher Stakes.
Sweet Seventeen had appeared home free in the Busanda, despite drifting wide early in her initial two-turn attempt, but came up a neck short after neglecting to change leads in the stretch.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Awesome Maria successfully defended her title in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Sabin, and did it with style on Saturday, cruising to an impressive eight-length victory over Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic and Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta.
NEW ORLEANS – Summer Applause failed to catch Believe You Can in last month’s Silverbulletday Stakes, but when the lead was taken from Believe You Can at the start of Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds, the complexion of the race changed. Believe You Can failed to adjust, and Summer Applause now had to run down the less-regarded Avie’s Sense.
Smart Bid is not really a horse with a home track. He’s been bedded down this winter at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida, and also spends time at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland. And when it comes to racing, Smart Bid is liable to show up anywhere: His six starts in the last year had come at six different tracks. But Smart Bid seems especially fond of New Orleans. Back at Fair Grounds for the first time since he won the Grade 2 Mervin Muniz Handicap last March 26, Smart Bid won the Grade 3, $125,000 Fair Grounds Handicap in first start since September.
In three starts, the only thing Look At the Time has done wrong was make a slight right turn as he came to the top of the stretch in his career debut Dec. 23 at Fair Grounds. For that, the stewards disqualified Look At the Time, a 4 1/4-length winner, and placed him fourth. At odds of 17-1. For connections that might enjoy an occasional wager. Ouch.
NEW ORLEANS - Nehro, second in last year’s Kentucky Derby, on Saturday at Fair Grounds served notice that he will be a force among this year’s older horses when he scored an impressive, 7 1/4-length victory in his first start since last year’s Belmont Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A year ago, Ultimate Eagle was an unraced maiden who had survived a bout with colic as a 2-year-old. Next weekend, the 4-year-old starts in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” trainer Mike Pender said.
That whirlwind has included graded stakes wins in three of the colt’s last four starts, most notably a victory by 7 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 4.
The Big Cap will be Ultimate Eagle’s first start on a dirt track over 1 1/4 miles, an issue that does not concern Pender.
Maryland-based trainer Tom Iannotti is in a prime position to bring home the lion’s share of the $47,000 purse up for grabs in Monday’s featured ninth race at Parx Racing, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-old Pennsylvania-breds eligible for a first-level allowance.
Iannotti has the coupled entry of The Camden Comet, dropping in class following the first poor performance of his three-race career in Laurel’s Dancing Count, and Tapps, a former maiden claimer who was part of a double disqualification against open-allowance company last time out.
