OLDSMAR, Fla.- Taking the lead right from the start, Silver Reunion led every step under good handling by Ramon Dominguez to capture the 12th running of the Grade 3, $125,000 Endeavour Stakes on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.
Making her first start since August, Spring Party moved clear soon after the start, followed closely by Spring Party, C.S. Silk, and Kiss MIne.
The inevitable comparisons between reigning Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and his baby brother Brethren will continue. Brethren remained undefeated on Saturday with a convincing four-length victory over the 31-1 Too Experience in the $225,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The trip to New York from Maryland finally paid dividends for Coax Liberty, who got outside in midstretch under David Cohen and stormed past even-money favorite Breathoffreshheir in the final 100 yards to win Saturday’s $65,000 Dearly Previous Stakes by two lengths at Aqueduct.
Breathoffreshheir, the Ruthless Stakes winner who set the early pace, held second by a head over Full Moon Blues. Overseas Market and Wild About Sonny completed the order of finish.
Her tactics may have been completely different, but Potosina produced the same results as she did three weeks earlier by earning her second straight stakes victory in Saturday’s $50,000 Maryland Racing Media Stakes at Laurel Park.
J P’s Gusto, one of the nation’s top 3-year-olds, galloped over the Oaklawn surface for the first time Saturday morning and is scheduled to breeze for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest on either Monday or Tuesday, said his trainer, Joe Petalino.
J P’s Gusto was transferred to Petalino last week after being based with trainer David Hofmans in Southern California. The Southwest is Feb. 21.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., which has lost eight programs this meet to inclement weather, has added an additional day to its season and has increased overnight purses approximately $10,000 a day. The added date will come on Wednesday, April 13, and the purse increase was effective with Saturday’s program, Feb. 12.
Claiming races are being increased a minimum of $500 each, while all non-claiming races, excluding stakes, will be increased a minimum of $2,000.
John Waken, whose stable races under the name Gem Inc., has had good success relocating horses from Southern California to the East Coast, most notably Nicole H, a two-time stakes winner in New York, and Harissa, the winner of last month’s Sleigh Ride at Parx Racing. Trainer Todd Beattie is hopeful some of that same good luck will rub off on Ava’s Charm, a Waken-owned filly who has come east to join Beattie’s string at Penn National.
Three starts ago, Sea Rescue ran the race of his life to upset the $450,000 West Virginia Breeders' Classic at Charles Town as a 57-1 longshot. Although that was his fourth lifetime win and his career earnings now exceed $300,000, the 5-year-old Sea Rescue still qualifies to run in Tuesday night’s featured eighth race at Charles Town, a $26,000 allowance for nonwinners of two lifetime.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man will sport a new look when he runs Saturday in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. No blinkers!
Mucho Macho Man launched his 3-year-old campaign by finishing fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Holy Bull here earlier this month, racing close to a fast pace before faltering in late stretch. Trainer Kathy Ritvo said she had been contemplating removing the blinkers from Mucho Macho Man even as a 2-year-old and has decided now is the right time to finally make the move.
Racing officials at Fair Grounds are expecting a terrific field for their next big race on the Triple Crown trail, the Risen Star Stakes, with two major hopefuls scheduled to ship in from south Florida to make their 3-year-old debuts in the Grade 2, $300,000 race.
Rogue Romance, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Santiva, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, are among the six to eight known prospects for the Risen Star, which will be run Saturday, Feb. 19, at the New Orleans track.
