MIAMI - Owner Fred Brei and trainer Stanley Gold continued their hot hand in Calder’s Florida Stallion Stakes on Saturday, winning the opening legs of the longstanding series with Redbud Road in the $75,000 Desert Vixen and Fort Loudon in the $75,000 Dr. Fager.
Brei and Gold swept the 2009 open divison with Jackson Bend and last year’s filly series with ultimate Eclipse Award winner Awesome Feather.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There was a wild finish to Saturday’s rich pick six at Saratoga, which came one stewards’ decision away from resulting in an approximate $780,000 carryover into Sunday’s program.
Instead, the pick six was hit, returning $86,701 to nine correct tickets. The winning sequence was 5-4-1-6-5-6. The consolation payout (5 of 6) was $318.
Bob Baffert can do little wrong these days. The Hall of Fame trainer watched from Saratoga as he sent out his second major winner in the 3-year-old ranks in less than a week when Prayer for Relief wore down front-running Rush Now on Saturday to capture the 42nd running of the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Chester, W.Va.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a year when it has been difficult to find male horses who have won multiple major stakes, Tizway staked his claim as being the best older male horse in the country – and a strong contender for Horse of the Year – with an emphatic, three-length victory Saturday in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap before 34,412 at Saratoga.
Power of Nine, making her first start since winning her maiden June 9, got a perfect stalking trip and proved superior in the lane as she captured the $66,200 Wine Country Debutante Stakes at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa on Saturday.
Heavily favored City Route, seeking her fourth straight victory and third straight stakes win, didn’t fire and wound up fourth at 3-10 while suffering her first career loss.
Modern Cowboy overcame persistent traffic and two even more persistent rivals when emerging narrowly best in the $125,000 West Virginia Governor’s, the top secondary feature on an all-stakes Saturday card at the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Chester, W.Va.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Rick Violette said there were a “half a dozen times” he thought about scratching Trix in the City out of Saturday’s $80,000 De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga. Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you don’t make.
Electing to keep her in the race, Violette breathed a sigh of relief after Trix in the City, under Shaun Bridgmohan, cruised to a front-running, 2 1/4-length victory in the De La Rose. Tapitsfly, under Robby Albarado, got second by a neck over Evading Tempete, who was third by a neck over Ultimate Class.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Trainer Tim Hamm ran a five-horse entry in the $50,000 Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes at Thistledown on Saturday and finished one-two-three.
Private Cause, one of four fillies in the six-furlong race, dueled into the stretch before drawing clear near the eighth pole for a one-length victory over her stablemate Private Cause. Operation Bling finished third, a neck farther back.
Private Cause, ridden by Hector L. Rosario Jr., paid $4 to win and was timed in 1:13.38.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - James Street notched his first stakes with determination under Patrick Husbands Saturday at Woodbine in the $161,100 Seagram Cup.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Turbulent Descent erased the disappointment of her last trip to New York by rolling to a ridiculously easy 3 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga.
Eight weeks ago, Turbulent Descent finished second to It’s Tricky in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park, a race run over a sloppy racetrack. Though it was raining lightly during the Test, the track remained dry and fast and Turbulent Descent handled it with aplomb.
