COLUMBUS, Neb. - Honkytonk Stomp made his stakes debut a winning one, rolling by 6 3/4 lengths in the $10,530 Hall Of Fame Stakes at Columbus on Saturday night.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Go Milan Go ($5) returned to the winning form she showed earlier in the year, holding off the late charge of Tak a Joke to win the $85,000 Donna Reed at Prairie Meadows by 1 1/4 lengths.
The Donna Reed was among seven statebred stakes on a nine-race card Saturday, the final night of Thoroughbred racing at Prairie Meadows.
Go Milan Go set uncontested fractions of 23.84 and 47.76 seconds and had a five-length lead at the head of the stretch. She was all out inside the final furlong to outlast Tak a Joke. Go Milan Go finished a mile and 70 yards in 1:43.70.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A rematch between Blame and Quality Road will have to wait until the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6. The top two finishers from Saturday’s thrilling Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga are headed their separate ways for their next starts.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Zenyatta extended her historic winning streak to 18 races in Saturday’s $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.
Zenyatta’s neck victory in the Grade 1 Hirsch, her fourth win of the year, was not her flashiest win of the season, the fastest, or against the toughest competition, but she overcame a slow pace to run down pacesetter Rinterval.
Andiotis came from off the pace to win the $50,000 Westerner Handicap at Northlands Park Saturday.
With Rico Walcott aboard, Andiotis was more than eight lengths behind during the early stages of the 1 1/16-mile race while Shem and Smile N Wave were carving out fractions of 24.20 seconds and 47.40. They were still dueling after six-furlongs in 1:12 when Andiotis was just starting to kick into gear. He made a strong move while going four-wide into the stretch and drew off to win by 4 1/2 lengths over Mr. Shadar.
Class Favorite likes to make things dramatic. He won his second straight stakes by a slim margin at Arapahoe Park on Saturday, when he was up for a nose win in the $44,485 Silver Cup Futurity. One start prior, Class Favorite was a neck winner of the $37,000 Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association Futurity.
MIAMI - Gourmet Dinner rallied off a contentious pace and kept his record unblemished by posting a half-length victory over Grand Shores in Saturday’s $75,000 Dr. Fager Stakes at Calder. The six-furlong Dr. Fager is the first leg of the open division of the Florida Stallion Stakes.
The Dr. Fager was decided over a track downgraded from fast to sloppy due to a torrential downpour which hit the area about an hour earlier.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Blame’s ascension through the ranks of the older horse division reached a climax Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 36,658 at Saratoga when he outfinished heavily favored Quality Road to win the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap by a head.
Twelve Pack Shelly showed tremendous promise in her first start, romping to 10 3/4 length win in April at Laurel while earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. She has had some tough trips and mishaps since then, but the talent is starting to shine through.
Twelve Park Shelly got her first stakes win Saturday, beating R Heat Lightning by one length in the $100,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. The Colleen is the prep for the meet’s top event for 2-year-old fillies, the $100,000 Sorority Stakes on Labor Day.