SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - He was not the dazzling Quality Road that had been seen previously this year, but he was a winner nonetheless.
Doing what was expected of him against a soft group of competitors, Quality Road, the 1-4 favorite, bounced back from his narrow loss to Blame in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap with a 4 3/4-length score in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - A determined Madman Diaries held off Vengeful Wildcat and Chipshot to win the Grade 3, $153,000 Sapling Stakes for 2-year-olds on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Jeffrey Sanchez was aboard for breeder, trainer, and co-owner Wesley Ward as Madman Diaries made a successful transition to dirt following four races on synthetics. After getting second in his debut at Keeneland, Madman Diaries ran three times at Woodbine, where he captured the Victoria Stakes.
MIAMI - Trip for A.J. left little doubt as to her superiority over the filly and mare handicap division, turf or dirt, when cruising to a popular 3 3/4-length victory over Musical Romance in Saturday’s $55,000 Ms Brookski Stakes at Calder.
Trip for A.J., a full sister to eight-time stakes winner Annabil, has now posted three straight one-sided victories and four consecutive wins overall for owner-breeder Peter Fuller and trainer Milt Wolfson.
Tuesday’s featured eighth race at Finger Lakes is an allowance restricted to horses who have never won three races, and it’s hard to find fault with Kip’s Boy, Devonshire, and Too Tough Jake. Kip’s Boy is 2 for 2 at Finger Lakes, while Devonshire and Too Tough Jake are both 2 for 3 locally.
Although all three are logical contenders in the six-furlong sprint, the favorite’s role is still likely to bestowed on a newcomer to western New York who has sprinted just once in his last six starts and has been running for a claiming tag in his most recent five races.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Grade 3, $100,000 Glens Falls Stakes isn’t usually where one would expect to find a champion, but for many reasons this race makes perfect sense for 2008 female turf Eclipse Award winner Forever Together.
First, Forever Together has not won since taking the Grade 1 Diana here 13 months ago. She has finished second or third in her last six starts, including a head loss in the last month’s Diana.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux will be out of action a minimum of three weeks after sustaining a cracked vertebra as a result of a spill he was involved in during the running of Friday’s second race at Saratoga.
Desormeaux, 40, will not require surgery, but will have to wear a neck brace for 1 1/2 to two weeks, according to his agent, Mike Sellitto.
“Three weeks, he should be back to riding,” Sellitto said. “He isn’t required to do anything, it will heal on its own. It’s a minor crack.”
Haimish Hy, the upset winner of Friday’s $100,000 El Cajon Stakes on the Polytrack synthetic surface, will spend the autumn racing on turf, trainer Art Sherman said Saturday.
Making his first start since a second in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields last February, Haimish Hy rallied from last in a field of eight to win the one-mile El Cajon by a neck as a 31-1 longest shot in the field.
“I could see him coming and wondered, can he get there?” Sherman said. “I thought he ran well. He hadn’t run in six months.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hooh Why outran a small but select group of fillies and mares Saturday at Woodbine in the seven-furlong, $161,500 Seaway Stakes.
Hooh Why, the winner of last year’s Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, battled up front with favored Tribal Belle, last year’s champion female sprinter in Canada, who set a wind-aided opening quarter of 22.86. Hooh Why got the half-mile split in 44.81, and then opened up a clear lead in the stretch en route to a 1 3/4-length tally in 1:23.51. She paid $15.50.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bench Points won the $100,000 Graduation Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 4, thanks in part to an excellent ride from jockey Rafael Bejarano.
It was Bejarano who guided Bench Points between horses in early stretch and went on to win by 2 3/4 lengths, earning the admiration of trainer Tim Yakteen. On Monday, Yakteen and Bejarano team together again when Bench Points starts in the $100,000 I’m Smokin Stakes for statebred 2-year-olds over six furlongs.
Yakteen is leaving race strategy to Bejarano, specifically how close to keep Bench Points to the lead.