ELMONT, N.Y. - For Nick Zito, great expectations brought great disappointment in Saturday's 142nd Belmont Stakes, as the Hall of Fame trainer had to settle for a second and an eighth-place finish with Fly Down and Ice Box.
Though Fly Down ran well to be second, three-quarters of a length behind Drosselmeyer, Zito was excruciatingly disappointed in Ice Box, the Kentucky Derby runner-up who finished ninth - but was moved to eighth via disqualification - in the Belmont as the 9-5 favorite.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hot Cha Cha got a terrific trip under Jimmy Graham Saturday in winning the 34th running of the at Churchill Downs, giving the filly her fourth graded stakes win.
Owned and bred by Nelson McMakin, Hot Cha Cha paid $5.20 as second choice in a field of six filly-mare turf runners.
ELMONT, N.Y. - That trainer Christophe Clement won Saturday's at Belmont Park was not a surprise. That he won it with Winchester and not Gio Ponti was.
While Gio Ponti, the 6-5 favorite, ran a remarkable race having to weave through traffic, Winchester, under Cornelio Velasquez, had a clear run on the outside and stormed down the center of Belmont Park's inner turf course to run down Gio Ponti in the final strides to win the $400,000 Manhattan by one-half length.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cost of Freedom's win in an optional claimer at Hollywood Park on May 6 left trainer John Sadler thinking that the race was the best of the 7-year-old gelding's career. He may want to reassess that ranking after Saturday's .
Bopolene put in a strong late run to win the $50,000 Oakley for Virginia-bred or -sired fillies and mares at Colonial Downs on Saturday.
Bopolene ($20.60) defeated the 16-1 Shaunna by 2 1/2 lengths, with pacesetter Argent Affair another half-length back in third. Bopolene covered the 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in 1:02.73 under Julian Pimentel. A Bop mare, she is owned and trained by Donna Lockard.
No Such Word outgamed Havre de Grace in the $75,000 Go for Wand at Delaware Park on Saturday.
The Go for Wand, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, turned into a two-filly race down the stretch. Havre de Grace took a short lead under Jeremy Rose, but No Such Word and Terry Thompson pulled even in early stretch and the two battled to the wire. No Such Word, the 3-5 favorite, edged Havre de Grace, sent off at 9-5, by a neck in 1:46.11. Hot Trip finished third in the five-horse field, another six lengths farther back.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Who says you can't teach old horses new tricks? Don't tell it to Bribon, an erstwhile miler who looped the field to win the six-furlong, going away.
Last of eight into the far turn, as his stablemate Checklist slugged it out with Formidable through fractions of 22.29 and 45.60 seconds, Bribon swung widest while gathering a head of steam near the quarter pole, and finished with a flourish to win the Grade 2 sprint by 1 1/2 lengths under Garrett Gomez.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In his first mount ever at Belmont Park, jockey Martin Garcia - who three weeks ago made a name for himself on a national scale when he rode Lookin At Lucky to victory in the Preakness Stakes - guided Champagne d'Oro to a 39-1 upset in the on Saturday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Simply Splendid ($15.80) gamely held off a charging Miss Keller to take the at Woodbine on Saturday.
Chantal Sutherland rode Simply Splendid, who stalked front-running Points of Grace through moderate fractions in the one-mile turf event for fillies and mares.
Simply Splendid hit the front early in the stretch and then repelled a late bid from Miss Keller before scoring by a half-length, in a time of 1:34.23, over a course labeled good. Favored Rainbow View finished third in a field reduced to six with the scratch of Missit.
