INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For the rest of his career, Acclamation should run in every turf race possible at Hollywood Park.
Saturday, Acclamation, 5, successfully defended his title in the $150,000 Jim Murray Handicap over 1 1/2 miles on turf. The Grade 2 Murray, named for the late sportswriter, was Acclamation’s third career stakes win, all of which have come on Hollywood Park’s turf course.
“He loves this racetrack,” owner Bud Johnston said. “We thought he was the class of the race.”
Tiz Miz Sue reaffirmed her affinity for the main track at Delaware Park when she pulled away from Sarah’s Song in deep stretch to win Saturday’s $50,700 Winter Melody Stakes for fillies and mares.
The 1 1/16-mile Winter Melody served as the first local prep for horses looking to move on to the meet’s premier race, the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 16.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Kentucky shipper Embur’s Song ($7.50) parlayed an ideal stalking trip into an authoritative score Saturday at Woodbine in the Grade 3, $182,500 Hendrie Stakes.
In the driving rain, Wildcat Marie and Dr. Zic linked up on the early lead of the 6 1/2-furlong Hendrie, as Embur’s Song raced four length back during an opening quarter in 22.29 seconds. Wildcat Marie opened up a clear advantage on the turn, getting the half in a rapid 44.87.
MIAMI - Manicero solidified his status as the top 3-year-old sprinter in south Florida when he rallied to a three-quarter-length victory over Dual Exhauzt in Saturday’s $75,000 In Summation Stakes at Calder.
Manicero, a son of Mass Media, won for the sixth time in his last seven starts, his lone setback during that period coming in the Grade 2 Hutcheson last winter at Gulfstream Park. Manicero is trained by Leo Azpurua Jr. for his father, Leo Azpurua Sr. and was ridden to victory by Paco Lopez. The In Summation was the fifth stakes win of his career.
Presque Isle Downs near Erie, Pa., a racino with more than 2,000 slot machines and 48 table games, will begin a 100-day meet Tuesday that runs through Oct. 1.
The biggest change to the racing schedule is that the track’s signature event, the Presque Isle Masters, has been upgraded to a Grade 2 from a Grade 3. The $400,000 Masters, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, will be run over the Tapeta surface on Sept, 10.
A pair of Kentucky-based 4-year-old fillies whose best races have come on either Polytrack or turf will try to transfer their good form to dirt in Tuesday night’s $75,000 Ohio Valley Handicap, the first stakes of the season at Mountaineer Racetrack.
Zonga Zing, 4 for 7 on synthetic surfaces but 0 for 4 on dirt, and Hot Hot Mama, winless in five starts on dirt since April 2010, nevertheless merit serious consideration in the six-furlong Ohio Valley on the basis of how well their trainers have done shipping into Mountaineer.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – What a difference one Saturday makes. In stark contrast to the sea of humanity that descended on the Churchill Downs property on Kentucky Derby Day, there was no one beyond the very hard-core on the backstretch the following Saturday morning when Sway Away had his final pre-race workout for the 136th Preakness.
Not even Jeff Bonde, the California-based trainer who conditions Sway Away, was here.
PREAKNESS STAKES 2011: Contender profiles, news updates, video, and odds
After picking up small pieces of purses in four stakes races over the past 16 months, Volare Cantare takes a class drop into allowance company in search of her first first-place finish since January 2010 in Monday’s featured sixth race at Penn National Race Course.
A well-traveled 4-year-old filly who has raced at six different tracks and on dirt, synthetic, and turf in her nine-race career, Volare Cantare is among eight fillies and mares in a second-level optional $25,000 claimer at one mile on the main track.
War Pilot won his 3-year-old debut in an allowance race over six furlongs on turf in Friday’s seventh race at Hollywood Park, giving trainer Mike Pender confidence that he has a candidate for the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 20.
Ridden by Martin Pedroza, War Pilot ($12.20) stalked a pace shared by three runners, moved closer with an inside move in early stretch and won by 1 1/2 lengths over 3-5 favorite Vaundell in 1:08.96. Pender credited Pedroza’s move to keep War Pilot on the inside on the turn as a key to the win.
Sakakawea, the prohibitive 2-5 favorite, prevailed in a suspense-filled renewal of the $70,000 Mamie Eisenhower, a six-furlong Iowa-bred stakes for fillies and mares, at Prairie Meadows on Friday night.
As is customary for Sakakawea, she broke sharply and controlled the pace against five rivals. However, as she tired in the final sixteenth, the 5-year-old daughter of Rossini drifted out under jockey Alex Birzer's stiff left-handed pressure and may have intimidated eventual third-place finisher Go Milan Go.
