ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Biofuel, Canada's co-champion 2-year-old filly last year, overcame a slow pace with a powerful wide rally to capture the for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine Sunday.
Biofuel ($2.60) trailed the seven-horse field on the backstretch, while Moment of Majesty and Witch's Coven vied through splits of 25.34 and 50.21 seconds in the mile and a sixteenth route.
Trainer Dale Capuano saddled two more winners on Saturday's closing-day card at Pimlico, including the final race of the 20-day spring meet, to dethrone four-time defending champion Scott Lake.
Capuano, 47, earned his 31st training title in Maryland by winning 11 races, three more than Lake. Capuano had previously finished as Pimlico's leading trainer nine times during a 10-year span between 1996 and 2005.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Trainer Brett Creighton's gamble paid off when Humble Destin outfinished six rivals to win the $60,000 Prairie Express, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward.
"He's been doing everything right, I figured that I'd take a shot," said Creighton.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Jockey Don Simington was a hero for longshot players Saturday at Louisiana Downs. He won two of the six stakes on Louisiana Cup Day with bombers, taking the $100,000 Oaks with 33-1 shot Debris, and the $100,000 Distaff with 19-1 outsider Vickies in Town.
"Anytime you have a big day like this and it goes well for you, it's just icing on the cake," Simington said. "It was just a perfect day."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After Smiling Tiger's narrow third-place finish in the Harry Henson Stakes at Hollywood Park in April, his first start in more than seven months, trainer Jeff Bonde displayed nothing but confidence about the colt's future.
His outlook was only enhanced in Saturday's $100,000 Laz Barrera Memorial Stakes. Smiling Tiger led throughout the Grade 3 race over seven furlongs, his first graded stakes win, holding off a late threat from 5-2 favorite Concord Point to win by a half-length.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- The third edition of the was bet like a two-horse race, but only one of the main players fired. That was Bay to Bay, who made short work of her opponents on Saturday at Arlington, beating pacesetting Go Ask Alex by 2 1/2 lengths. Not such good results for favored Queen of the Creek, who was unsettled early, and never really showed much spark, checking in a well-beaten third in the mile turf race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Chicago invader Free Fighter got a great trip from just off the pace and went swooping to victory Saturday in the 73rd running of the at Churchill Downs.
With Francisco Torres riding for trainer Chris Block, Free Fighter drew clear leaving the quarter pole and was never threatened in the stretch run of the 1 1/2-mile turf race, prevailing by two lengths over Bearpath. Brass Hat, the 119-pound highweight in a field of 10 older horses, was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third.
Affluence followed up his maiden win earlier in the month at Delaware Park with an impressive 6 1/2-length victory there in Saturday s $50,700 Par Four Stakes.
Ridden by Jose Valdivia for trainer Ron Potts, Affluence tracked the pacesetting Happytheman through an opening quarter-mile in 22.14 seconds in the 4 1/2-furlong Par Four, took over leaving the turn, and pulled away from his rivals. The favored Speed Demon bobbled at the start and wound up second, a neck in front of third-place Firepole in the field of eight 2-year-olds.
