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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Had things worked out a little better, trainer Bob Baffert would have been at Saratoga on Saturday trying to win the main event, the Travers, with Lookin At Lucky. Instead, he had to settle for one of the minor prizes after sending out Rapport to a wire-to-wire victory under jockey Martin Garcia in the $100,000 Victory Ride Stakes.
Taptam led from start to finish to win the $104.900 Wigwam at Hoosier Park Saturday afternoon.
Trained by Bret Calhoun, Taptam dueled for the early lead before taking over after a half-mile. The 5-year-old had a 2 1/2- length lead coming into the stretch and jockey Francisco Torres kept the mare’s mind on business, winning by two lengths.
Afleet Deceit under Leandro Goncalves held on for second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of entrymate W W American in third.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Seth Benzel’s breakout meet hit a crescendo Saturday at Saratoga when Dynaslew overtook the pacesetting Silver Reunion outside the eighth pole, then outfinished that rival to the wire to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa Stakes by one-half length.
