Fairmount Park hosts the only two stakes races of its season on Tuesday, a pair of $25,000 six-furlong sprints for Illinois-breds. The Lady Riss, for females, drew only a four-horse field, but there are eight in the Tex’s Zing for males, and that race’s field wouldn’t look out of place in a stakes three times the value.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Stanley Hough will spend the next several days weighing the pros and cons of running Tar Heel Mom in Saturday’s Grade 1 Ballerina.
Tar Heel Mom, impressive winner of the Grade 2 Honorable Miss earlier this month, worked a half-mile in 47.66 seconds over the main track on Saturday morning. Afterwards, Hough said he is 50-50 to run Tar Heel Mom in the Ballerina. The seven-furlong Ballerina figures to come up with a short but select field that will include Sassy Image and Hilda’s Passion.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he has gone winless with his first 21 mounts at this meet, jockey Jesus Castanon still had plenty to smile about Saturday morning at Saratoga. And it wasn’t just because of the glorious weather.
On Saturday morning, Castanon guided Shackleford through a solid five-furlong work in 1:00.88 over the main track in preparation for a start in next Saturday’s $1 million Travers Stakes.
Hop Along Harry, the longest shot in the field of seven at 26-1, rallied late to run down the front-running Brinello by a nose in Friday night's $50,000 Agassiz Stakes at Assiniboia Downs.
Brinello, a 9-year-old gelding, was seeking his fifth consecutive win in the Agassiz, which is a one-mile stakes for Manitoba-bred males, 3 and up.
Hop Along Harry, trained by Jerry Gourneau, was coming off a fourth-place finish in a conditoned $7,500 claiming race and was recording his third lifetime victory.
Under a perfectly timed ride by Isaias Cardenas, Sartorialist got up in the last few jumps to upset heavily favored Herescomelucky in the $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity for 2-year-olds colts and geldings at Hastings on Friday evening.
Trailing the field early, Sartorialist began to advance midway down the backstretch. He made a strong move while three-wide around the stretch turn and under strong urging by Cardenas closed with a rush to edge Herescomelucky by a half-length in the 6 1/2-furlong Jack Diamond.
Motion Approved upset three Oklahoma Classics Day stakes winners in one shot at Remington Park on Friday night, when he won the $50,000 Red Earth at 37-1. He darted home by two lengths over Strategic Leader, the winner of last year’s Classics Turf.
Amazombie, the winner of the Grade 2 Potrero Grande Stakes at Santa Anita this year, is a notable absentee from the nominations for next Sunday’s $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes.
Trainer Bill Spawr said that Amazombie will skip the race in favor of a start in the $250,000 Ancient Title Stakes at the Santa Anita autumn meeting on Oct. 8. Amazombie was third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes over six furlongs on July 31. The Ancient Title is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge program, offering a fees-paid berth to the winner for the BC Sprint at Churchill Downs in November.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Mizdirection’s front-running win in Friday’s $90,285 Sandy Blue Handicap at Del Mar was a milestone first stakes win for the filly and one of her co-owners.
The one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies was TV sports commentator Jim Rome’s first stakes win as an owner. Rome shared a first-place purse of $54,171 with partners Michael Kramek, Tom Lenner, Alan Peterson, and Robert Strauss, but the prize money was not foremost on his mind after the race.
“What I made today doesn’t equal the way it feels,” Rome said in the winner’s circle.
Cold Cash 123 remained unbeaten at 440 yards on Friday, when he put up the fastest qualifying time for next month’s Grade 1, $1,316,760 All American Derby for Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs. He is now 6 for 6 at the distance. There were nine trials on Friday, with Cold Cash 123 the fastest of 70 entrants trying to snag one of 10 spots in the finale that will be run Sept. 4.
“What we need now is 7 for 7,” said Sleepy Gilbreath, who trains Cold Cash 123.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When the first-time starter Feel What's Real rallied from last to win Friday's nightcap at 23-1, it resulted in a two-day pick-six carryover of $219,041 into Saturday's Alabama card at Saratoga.
It's the third time this meet there has been a two-day carryover of over $200,000.
Friday's pick-six sequence of 7-3-3-4-5-9 consisted of Soinlovewithuam I ($15.60), Rose's Turn ($7.10), The Funky Express ($6.10), Gitchee Goomie ($4.10) Ms. Lydian ($25.60) and Feel What's Real ($49). The consolation payout (5 of 6) returned $8,307.
