SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Though he was riding the heavily favored Bridgetown, jockey John Velazquez had some concerns going into Wednesday's $75,000 Troy Stakes at Saratoga.
The 5 1/2 furlongs of the race was a sixteenth of a mile further than Bridgetown had run his last four starts, and heavy rains early in the week made for a yielding turf course.
D’cats Meow will try to extend her winning streak to three in a $52,000 second-level $40,000 claimer for filly and mare sprinters, Monmouth’s Friday feature.
Claimed by Jane Cibelli for $20,000 from a winning effort, D’cats Meow promptly won a first-level allowance for the new barn.
A 4-year-old, D’cats Meow is 3-1-0 in seven Monmouth starts.
Come Sunday returned to action with a game effort, missing by only a head last month in her first start since March.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Acclamation worked seven furlongs on Del Mar’s Polytrack surface in 1:28.80 on Wednesday, an exercise much slower than owner Bud Johnston would have preferred in advance of a decision on the 5-year-old’s next start.
Johnston, and trainer Don Warren, are between the $1 million Pacific Classic over 1 1/4 miles on Polytrack on Aug. 28 or the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap over 1 3/8 miles on turf the same day. Acclamation has won three consecutive graded stakes on turf since May, but may switch surfaces next week.
Alma d’Oro, Pleasant Prince, and Chirac head the lineup for the Grade 3, $250,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The 1 1/8-mile race drew a field of eight for its 77th edition.
A member of trainer Todd Pletcher’s Delaware Park division, Alma d’Oro stepped up at that track to win the $100,000 Carpenter Memorial last month. It was the second win of the season for Alma d’Oro to go along with an overnight stakes at Laurel in February.
AUBURN, Wash. – Noosa Beach drew post 11 and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite when entries were taken Wednesday for the 76th renewal of the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs on Sunday. The defending Mile champion and highweight at 125 pounds, Noosa Beach headlines a full field of 12 that also features Grade 1 winner Awesome Gem, 2009 Mile champion Assessment, and the top two handicap horses from Hastings in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mile post time Sunday is 5:50 p.m. Pacific.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Sarah’s Secret lost her unbeaten record with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar on July 24, but emerged with an excuse that could make her an intriguing participant in a tough running of the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks on Saturday.
Oaklawn Park has created a blockbuster Arkansas Derby card for 2012, with the Grade 1, $1 million derby to anchor an April 14 program that will also include the Grade 2, $350,000 Oaklawn Handicap, the Grade 3, $200,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, and the $100,000 Northern Spur.
In another significant change to the 34-race, $5.2 million stakes schedule, Oaklawn has kicked up the purse for the Grade 2 Rebel to $500,000. Part of the track’s series for 3-year-olds, the March 17 Rebel had been worth $300,000.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Two years after winning the Grade 1 Alabama with the fleet-footed filly Careless Jewel, owners Donna and Vern Dubinksy and trainer Josie Carroll have returned to Saratoga with Inglorious to take another shot at the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies.
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BOSSIER CITY, La. – It is all about Louisiana-breds at Louisiana Downs on Saturday as the track’s annual Louisiana Cup Day will showcase the best the state has to offer. A total of eight stake races will be worth a combined $570,000.
In the $50,000 Juvenile Fillies, Coteau Kitten could be the shortest-priced favorite all afternoon. The Pat Devereaux Jr. trainee has won all three of her previous starts, including the filly division of the $125,000 D.S. “Shine” Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs in her most recent.
The winners of three separate Oklahoma Classics Day stakes last year at Remington Park – J J’s Indy, Strategic Leader, and She’s All In – will square off Friday night in the $50,000 Red Earth. The stakes is the first of the Remington meet that opened Thursday, and will share a card with a $40,000 allowance prep for next month’s $50,000 Ricks Memorial.
The Red Earth, a 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-olds and up bred in Oklahoma, drew a field of 10.
