INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Officially, Lookin At Lucky worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 at Hollywood Park on Sunday.
There was much more to Lookin At Lucky’s morning than that, however, for the star 3-year-old who won the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in his last start on Aug. 1 and is being prepared for the $500,000 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park on Saturday.
POMONA, Calif. – Briecat and Bench the Judge returned to peak form Saturday at Fairplex Park, where each scored decisive stakes wins.
Briecat took control early and won the $50,000 Las Madrinas Handicap for fillies and mares by 3 1/4 lengths; Bench the Judge won the $50,000 Pomona Derby for 3-year-olds by 3 1/2 lengths.
ALTOONA, IOWA – Holland Aces ran down Dash of Paint to prevail by three-quarters of a length in Saturday night’s $68,200 Jim Bader Futurity at Prairie Meadows. The win in the final race of the meet enabled Charley Hunt to capture the meet’s title as leading trainer with 22 wins, one more than Brian Muse.
Holland Aces ($11.60) covered the 350 yards in 17.42 seconds.
In the other four stakes on the closing-night Iowa Champions Night for statebreds:
It's Me Mom led from start to finish and was never challenged in the $100,000 Presque Isle Debutante for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday evening’s closing-night card.
Jockey Willie Martinez sent It’s Me Mom ($7.40) to the front and she led by as many as eight lengths at the half-mile call. Trained by Lynne Scace, It's Me Mom won by 63/4 lengths while completing six furlongs on the Tapeta in 1:09.72.
Interrogate, under Phil Teator, finished second, 1 ½ lengths in front of Dust and Diamonds.
Jockey Mark Anthony Villa, 44, died as a result of a spill in the seventh race at Zia Park on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the Hobbs, N.M. track.
Villa’s mount, Separate Money, broke down just after finishing second in the trial race for the Hobbs America Quarter Horse Futurity and the rider was thrown to the ground. Villa was taken to nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - In May, when Apart rolled to a more than seven-length win in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs, his connections started thinking about making a certain Grade 2, $500,000 race this fall at Louisiana Downs.
“We literally all said to ourselves, ‘We have a Super Derby horse this year,’ ” said Al Stall Jr., who trains Apart for the colt’s owner-breeder, Adele Dilschneider.
VANCOUVER, British, Columbia - Washington Oaks winner Zenovit proved she is the top 3-year-old filly in the Pacific Northwest with a convincing 1 1/4-length win over Wando Woman in the $52,135 British Columbia Oaks at Hastings on Saturday.
MIAMI – Blue Eyed Sweetie solidified her spot as the second-best 2-year-old filly on the grounds after setting all the pace en route to a popular one-length victory over a game Beso Grande in Saturday’s $85,000 Brave Raj Stakes at Calder.
My Jen, an unheralded 3-year-old filly coming off a runner-up finish in the Victory Ride Stakes at Saratoga, was up in the final yards to nail fellow longshot Moontune Missy by a head in Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap, a Win and You’re In event for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
BENSALEM, Pa. – After a spring and summer of agonizing defeats in major races for 3-year-olds, trainer Nick Zito finally got to taste the thrill of victory in Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing.