Sat, 08/28/2010 - 21:40

El Brujo caps five-win day for Rosario

DEL MAR, Calif. - Joel Rosario was the riding star of the day on Saturday at Del Mar, winning five races, and he saved his best work for late in the card in the Grade 1, $300,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes, when he sent El Brujo to a front-running victory with an aggressive ride.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 20:36

Apart takes Prelude; will head to Super Derby

Apart is headed to the Super Derby after overcoming a troubled trip to win his stakes debut Saturday in the $100,000 Prelude at Louisiana Downs.

He stumbled badly at the start of the mile and a sixteenth race, was hung well wide in both the first turn and second, then ran down 4-5 favorite Coyote Legend for a length and three-quarter win.

“Nobody could have been happy with the trip at any point until the end,” said Al Stall Jr., who trains Apart for Adele Dilschneider.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 20:17

Richard's Kid, Smith, Baffert repeat in Pacific Classic

BDEL MAR, Calif. - Reunited, and it felt so good.

Last year, jockey Mike Smith climbed aboard Richard’s Kid for the first time, and they won the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
Not until Saturday, some 51 weeks later, did Smith get back on Richard’s Kid. He hadn’t ridden him in another race, not even been aboard for a workout. It didn’t matter.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 19:35

Gourmet Dinner, Awesome Feather stay unbeaten

Gourmet Dinner and Awesome Feather kept their records unblemished and hopes alive of sweeping their respective divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes after registering victories on Saturday in the $100,000 Affirmed and Susan’s Girl stakes at Calder.

 

The Affirmed and Susan’s Girl were two of six stakes decided on the 13 race Juvenile Showcase program consisting exclusively of 2-year-old races.

 

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 18:57

Teaks North continues to improve

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Teaks North made his stakes debut a winning one, beating Beau Choix by one length in $96,000 Restoration Stakes for 3-year-olds on the turf on Saturday at Monmouth Park

The victory was the third in the last four races for the gelding trained by Justin Sallusto.

Teaks North turned in a sharp effort back on Haskell Day, capturing a first-level allowance race. Still, it seemed a tall order to make the leap against seasoned stakes runners.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 18:29

Discreetly Mine leads start to finish in King’s Bishop

Barbara D. Livingston
Discreetly Mine, with John Velazquez riding, wins the King's Bishop with a front-running change in tactics.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Saturday’s $250,000 King’s Bishop Stakes may not have gone exactly as Todd Pletcher would have envisioned it earlier in the day. But the end result was just what the meet’s leading trainer was looking for after Discreetly Mine led throughout to post a 1 1/4-length decision over a game Bank Merger in the Grade 1 dash for 3-year-olds.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 18:23

Enriched takes Del Mar Mile on the front end

DEL MAR, Calif.- Alone on the lead, Enriched proved to be unbeatable in Saturday’s $190,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap, recording the first stakes win of his 21-race career.

The way the race unfolded, jockey Joel Rosario had growing confidence through the final half-mile. Enriched was allowed to set a slow pace of 23.97 and 48.53 seconds and held off a late threat from Meteore to win the Grade 2 turf race by three-quarters of a length.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 18:14

Afleet Express noses out Fly Down in thrilling Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - They ran the Travers Stakes for the 141st time on Saturday at Saratoga and one would be hard-pressed to find a closer finish. In a result that was befitting the type of summer it has been for jockeys Javier Castellano and Jose Lezcano and trainer Nick Zito, Afleet Express, under Castellano, won the Mid-Summer Derby by a nostril over the Zito-trained and Lezcano-ridden Fly Down.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 17:50

Rightly So all the way in Ballerina

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Utilizing her speed on a speed-favoring track, Rightly So became a Grade 1 winner Saturday by going gate to wire in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina Stakes by four lengths.

She was the fifth gate-to-wire winner in as many dirt races to that point on the card.

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 17:28

Barracks Road upsets Ontario Colleen

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Barracks Road ($20.50) established an easy lead and kept on going to take the $193,900 Ontario Colleen Stakes over 26-1 shot Jenny’s So Great at Woodbine Saturday.

The temporary rail on the turf course was placed in the outermost lane for the one-mile event, a position which aided the speed style of Barracks Road, who set quick fractions of 23.45 and 46.23 seconds under Corey Fraser.