Motown Boy came on again after being headed in the stretch to win the $84,000 Gus Grissom at Hoosier Park Sunday afternoon.
Jockey Rodney Prescott had Motown Boy on the lead to upper stretch of the 1 1/16-mile race, until 2-5 favorite Unreachable Star rallied and drew clear by two lengths. Prescott asked Motown Boy for more and he responded, coming back to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Unreachable Star, under Leandro Gonclaves, was second, 3 3/4 lengths in front of Lieper’s Fork in third.
POMONA, Calif. – True Way of Grace overcame early trouble in the $91,872 Barretts Debutante on Saturday at Fairplex Park, and reeled in odds-on favorite Dearly Concerned to post a half-length upset in the stakes, which was for 2-year-old fillies that were offered at a Barretts auction.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Miss Keller, favored at 8-5 came between horses under a rousing ride by Javier Castellano and outfinished Latin Love for a 1 3/4-length victory in Sunday’s Grade 2, $300,400 Canadian Stakes.
Cherokee’s Goal, the only 3-year-old in the field of 10, scored a two-length victory in the the $72,500 Gold Cup at Assiniboia Downs on Saturday night.
With regular rider Juan Crawford in the irons, Cherokee’s Goal stalked the early pace of Brinello and Monsoon Rain in the 1 1/8-mile race and then took over nearing the eighth pole.
Vindgari rallied for second, three-quarters of a length before odds-on favorite Double Shuffle as Brinello faded to finish seventh and Monsoon Rain wound up last.
Striking Time completed a perfect meeting with a 3 3/4-length score in the $25,000 Prairie Lily Sales Stakes at Marquis Downs on Saturday night.
Owned by his breeder, Vern Dyck, in partnership with Norm Young, Striking Time wound up 4 for 4 and earned $34,920 as the top 2-year-old at the session.
Striking Time, trained by Fern Zdunick and ridden by Neville Stephenson, came from off the pace in the Prairie Lily and scored handily over Royal Sofisticate with Icando another 5 1/2 lengths back as the third-place finisher in the field of seven.
The ugly running line Derwin’s Star received for her dull effort at 5-2 odds in her most recent start didn’t scare trainer Steve Klesaris. In fact, Klesaris was willing to forgive his filly’s seventh-place finish in a seven-furlong stakes at Woodbine and was confident she would run much better in Saturday night’s $400,000 Charles Town Oaks.
Bent Tune held off heavily favored Cool Ventura to win the $50,000 Alberta Breeders’ Handicap at Northlands Park. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up headlined the seven stakes races for Alberta-breds worth $50,000 each which made up the bulk of the 11-race card on Alberta Fall Classic Day.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Goombada Guska, the lone 3-year-old in the field, had the strongest, freshest legs in the $96,000 Charles J. Hesse III Handicap on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The Hesse was the final of four stakes on the 12-race carded devoted exclusively to New Jersey-breds.
Back to the races only six days’ rest, Goombada Guska rallied for a 4 1/4-length win over Hermosillo, the defending Hesse champion who fought bravely to get second.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Ramon Dominguez keeps getting Check the Label into trouble, but the filly always seems to find a way of getting him out of it.
After being forced to check and steady at the five-sixteenths pole, Dominguez was able to swing Check the Label four wide into the stretch and the 3-year-old filly responded with the same strong closing kick she had displayed in her three prior stakes wins to take Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Garden City Breeders’ Cup by three-quarters of a length at Belmont Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Pluck, the 5-2 favorite, overtook 10-1 shot Rockin Heat in the stretch to capture the $250,800 Summer Stakes under Garret Gomez at Woodbine Saturday.
With the win, the Todd Pletcher-trained Pluck received an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Nov. 6 at Churchill as part of the BC Win and You’re in program. He collected $150,000 for Team Valor International in the Grade 3 fixture.