SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Kid Kate kept her Saratoga record unblemished and gave trainer Chad Brown his second stakes win in three days when parlaying a quick and decisive move on the turn into a 1 1/4-length victory over Belle of the Hall in Monday’s $75,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Saratoga.
Kid Kate’s tally in the Rachel Alexandra was the fourth win in three days for Brown, who posted the first Grade 1 victory of his career when sending out Zagora to capture the Diana here Saturday.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Tres Borrachos, who ended a 13-race losing streak with his victory in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on Saturday, is now under consideration for the Pacific Classic.
The San Diego was his first start for owner George Hicker since a private acquisition in July. Trained by Marty Jones, Tres Borrachos rallied from sixth in a field of eight to win by 1 1/4 lengths over 3-1 favorite Kevlar Kid.
Though Sidney’s Candy won Sunday’s Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap on turf, he could be heading back to the dirt for his next start, his connections said.
Races such as the Forego at seven furlongs or the Woodward at 1 1/8 miles, will be considered, said Elliott Walden, president of WinStar Farm, which purchased Sidney’s Candy in June from Jenny Craig.
“He’s a graded stakes winner on all three surfaces, set two track records, and ran a mile in 1:33-and-change on dirt,” Walden said. “We want to try to win a Grade 1 back in the East and look at what are options are.”
The Atta Boy Roy 2011 Tour makes a stop in Saratoga this week, where the multiple stakes-winning sprinter will run in Sunday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap.
Atta Boy Roy, winner of the 2010 Grade 2 Churchill Downs Sprint, began the year at Santa Anita, where he finished last in the Potrero Grande before winning an allowance race at Turf Paradise. He finished second to Noble’s Promise in the Grade 3 Aristides at Churchill before running third in the Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – One of trainer Al Stall Jr.’s main concerns when he brought Apart to Saratoga this summer for Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney was how his horse would handle the racetrack. Apart comes into the Whitney with 13 career starts, none of which have been at the Spa.
But after watching Apart train here for the past several weeks, including his easy half-mile breeze in 49.86 seconds with jockey Julien Leparoux aboard shortly after 6 a.m. Monday morning, any fears Stall might have had seem to be allayed.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tiznow, in 2000, is the last horse not to have won a Triple Crown race yet still be named 3-year-old champion. By virtue of a strong summer and fall campaign, culminating in a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Tiznow also won Horse of the Year.
At this point in time in 2011, there is no clear-cut leader in the 3-year-old division, nor is there a horse – male or female – that could be considered a clear front-runner for Horse of the Year.
DEL MAR, Calif. - A track-record performance from Euroears in Sunday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes has left the 7-year-old firmly on course for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in November.
How he gets there has yet to be determined by owner Jim Helzer and trainer Bob Baffert, Baffert said on Monday.
“The main thing is to get him to the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said. “I don’t know how. I’ve got to figure that out.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – It is tricky business honoring people by naming racehorses after them. Horses do not all turn out like Frankel or Dr. Fager. So when they do turn out well, it is reason to celebrate.
The reasons are good Wednesday at Del Mar, where a fast Northern California shipper with a funny name – Sherman Bartlebort – is favored in the $100,000 Graduation Stakes. The race is the 2-year-old’s first in Southern California. He will run for an appreciative audience.
Get ready for what might be the most interesting stakes race of the year in Northern California.
Saturday’s Jess Jackson Owners’ Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa is not the richest or most important race on the Northern California race schedule. In fact, it’s not even the only stakes on the card, sharing the spotlight with the Wine Country Debutante for 2-year-old fillies, which may include the unbeaten stakes winner City Route.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Marketing Mix, who shipped here from Kentucky this spring to take advantage of the Canadian-bred 3-year-old filly program, had run well in three stakes without finding the winner’s circle.
But that changed emphatically last Sunday when Marketing Mix stretched out to 1 1/4 miles on the turf and was a much-the-best 4 3/4-length winner of the $250,800 Wonder Where Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
