A seemingly deep division of New York-bred 3-year-olds welcomed a new member to the fold Sunday, when Friend or Foe surged past General Maximus at the eighth pole and drew clear to a 2 1/2-length victory in the at Belmont Park.
General Maximus, who set the pace under Javier Castellano, held second by 1 3/4 lengths over even-money favorite Ibboyee, who was compromised by a bad start. Make Note and Raynick's Jet completed the order of finish. Fenway Faithful was scratched.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Evenings End pulled off the upset in the for New Jersey-breds at Monmouth Park before a Father's Day crowd of 24,262.
Except for the Haskell Invitational or the Breeders' Cup, it was Monmouth's largest crowd since 2005.
A sprinter for most of his career, Evenings End ($32.20) was stretching out for the one mile and 70 yards in the Dowd. He had run once this season, scoring a pacesetting win at six furlongs against open company in a second-level allowance at Penn National.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tasty Temptation wore down the front-running La Rocca in the final sixteenth to win her fourth consecutive race Sunday at Woodbine in the .
Tasty Temptation ($3.60) raced four-wide throughout the 1 1/16-mile event as La Rocca set honest fractions of 24.34 and 48.29 seconds.
First Down Illusion pulled an upset in Saturday's $1,024,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity for 2-year-old Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos, a race marred by a fatal breakdown to 3-1 favorite Leave the Scene after the finish.
First Down Illusion ($60.80) ran 350 yards in 17.24 seconds, finishing a half-length in front of the well-regarded Flying Fig, the 4-1 second choice. Personal Glory finished third in the field of nine.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and Metropolitan Handicap winner Quality Road topped a star-studded list of horses trainer Todd Pletcher put through workouts on a warm, humid Sunday morning at Belmont Park.
Super Saver, working for the second time since his eighth-place finish in the Preakness on May 15, went an easy half-mile in 50.66 seconds early Sunday. Super Saver is preparing for a start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 1.
Bet Your Boots, another invader from Canterbury Park trained by Charlie Smith, proved to be too much for the locals in Saturday night's $30,000 Golden Boy at Assiniboia Downs.
With Rohan Singh in the irons, Bet Your Boots forced the pace on the inside before assuming command and then holding sway to score by 1 3/4 lengths as the 1.65-1 favorite.
Cherokee's Gold finished second in the field of eight 3-year-olds for the six-furlong Golden Boy, another 1 3/4 lengths before third-place Socks Are Up.
Down in Kent, Va., late Saturday afternoon, at Colonial Downs, Tizaqueena dead-heated for third in the All Along Stakes. A little more than 40 minutes later, Workin For Hops finished a game second in the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup. Not a bad showing for the two equine Chicago shippers. Two Chicago human shippers associated with the horses, trainer Mike Stidham and assistant trainer Hilary Pridham, then got into an automobile and drove north roughly 168 miles to Charles Town Races and Slots. Waiting was Comedero, who later Saturday night went out and routed six rivals in the .
ELMONT, N.Y. - In race that played out like a comedic tragedy for Gozzip Girl, Lady Shakespeare rallied from last to win the
by 2 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park on Saturday.
Changing Skies got up for second by one-length over Ave, who finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of Daveron. Gozzip Girl, in her first start since last October, stumbled badly out of the starting gate, unseating jockey Ramon Dominguez. Fortunately, neither Gozzip Girl nor Dominguez was injured. Nehantic Kat and Sweet and Flawless scratched.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - A first-level turf allowance on Sunday at Monmouth Park could be the springboard to launch Straight Story into the United Nations Stakes on July 3.
Not many older horses can make the leap from an entry-level race to a Grade 1, $750,000 stakes.
If anyone appears capable of handling the transition, it's Straight Story.
The 4-year-old trained by Alan Goldberg has already earned $412,390. That bankroll gives him a dominant class edge on eight rivals going 1 1/8 miles in the $80,000 race.
