INGLEWOOD, Calif.- A ground-saving trip helped Kettle Corn win his first stakes in Saturday’s $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park, a victory that could lead to an international trip next spring.
Ridden by Garrett Gomez, Kettle Corn ($19) caught pacesetter Tres Borrachos in the final sixteenth to win by a half-length, finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.03. Tres Borrachos, the 8-5 favorite, finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of Tweebster, the 2-1 second choice in the field of seven.
The 2-year-old filly Class Break’s first two-turn start looked a lot like her last one-turn start, a last-minute stretch rally leading to victory in a rich race for Illinois-breds.
Still four lengths behind at the stretch call, Class Break surged outside in the final half-furlong to win the $89,100 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante on Saturday at Hawthorne. A nose back came Diva’s Diamond and Our Domain, who dead-heated for second in a three-horse blanket finish.
First Strike is getting good in a hurry. In his first start since being claimed for $40,000, he overtook multiple stakes winner Thirtyfirststreet in the stretch and went on to a 1 1/2-length win in the $150,000 Zia Park Derby on Saturday.
The race was the first of four high-end stakes being run over the final weekend of racing at the Hobbs, N.M. track. The season closes Sunday with three of those races, led by the $200,000 Zia Park Distance Championship.
NEW ORLEANS – Three seasons ago at Fair Grounds, it wasn’t happening for It Happened Again, who finished 10th in the 2009 Risen Star Stakes. By last fall, the gelding had fallen all the way into the $20,000 claiming ranks, at which point owner Maggi Moss requested Steve Asmussen claim the horse. Then things started happening.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Finding room between rivals in midstretch, Jenny's So Great unleashed a strong run that carried her to a length victory in the $75,000 Lightning City Stakes on opening day at Tampa Bay Downs.
Lady of Fifty scored her second straight stakes victory on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields, leading a sweep of the top three places in the $75,260 Corte Madera Stakes for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Ancient Rome made his stakes debut a winning one, surging from between horses in the final 40 yards under jockey Joe Rocco Jr. to outfinish For Oby by a nose to capture the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes, the feature race on Saturday’s wildly successful opening-day program at Gulfstream Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Dixie Strike notched her first stakes victory convincingly in the $151,600 Ontario Lassie at Woodbine Saturday.
Bear’s Song established a slow pace in the 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-old fillies, while Dixie Strike raced in mid-pack under Patrick Husbands. Dixie Strike commenced a four-wide rally at the quarter pole, and then hit the front early in the stretch before kicking clear for a 5 1/2-length score in 1:44.92.
