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.
Monmouth Park's sixth race on Saturday was run as a no-contest after it was discovered that a tote malfunction would fail to lock wagering once the race began, the track said in a release.
Monmouth ran the race after the horses had been on the track for almost a half-hour.
"As always our primary concern is for the jockeys and the horses," said Bob Kulina, vice president and general manager at Monmouth Park. "To that end, we moved ahead and ran the race rather than have them on the track any longer."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Christmas came early for D' Funnybone on Saturday at steamy Belmont Park, with a gift-wrapped win in the for 3-year-old sprinters.
D' Funnybone, under Edgar Prado, sat back in third as Eightyfiveinafifty and Discreetly Mine tore through torrid fractions for the seven-furlong race, both hellbent on the lead. Discreetly Mine ended up winning the battle, but he lost the war. D' Funnybone easily cruised past the spent leaders and rolled to a 3 1/4-length victory over Discreetly Mine in the first of six stakes races run here Saturday.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Proviso's development into a top-flight turf mare continued Saturday at Belmont Park as the 5-year-old made the lead just outside the eighth pole, then turned back a stretch challenge from Phola to win the by a half-length.
Phola, last and wide until the quarter pole, rallied for second, a neck in front of My Princess Jess. Cherokee Queen, Fantasia and Speak Easy Gal completed the field.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Last fall, trainer Mark Glatt wanted to try his 2-year-old filly It Tiz on the turf, even though there were limited options.
The opportunity arrived in Friday's fourth race at Hollywood Park, and it was worth the wait. Making her first start at 3, It Tiz ($15.40) won her turf debut in a one-mile optional claimer, racing near the front throughout and winning by a half-length over Lilly Fa Pootz in 1:34.88.
The quarantine the Texas Animal Health Commission placed Friday on the Lone Star Park stables of three trainers, including meet leader Bret Calhoun, has been lifted, an official with the Texas Racing Commission confirmed Saturday morning. The Texas Animal Health Commission had imposed the lockdown after each trainer had a horse in his care test positive for equine piroplasmosis, but the test results were later found to be in error.
The Lone Star Park stables of three trainers, including meet leader Bret Calhoun, were placed under quarantine indefinitely on Thursday after each had a horse test positive for equine piroplasmosis. The directive came from the Texas Animal Health Commission.
Equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that can lead to loss of appetite, fever, anemia, labored breathing, colic and in some cases, death.
Other trainers whose stables are under quarantine are those of Kevin Favre and Brian House, whose horse that tested positive has since shipped to New Mexico.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The all-stakes pick six on Saturday's Belmont Stakes Day card that has a guaranteed pool of $1 million will have a jump-start due to a $129,962 carryover following Friday's card.
The carryover was assured well before 9-1 shot Alcomo ($21.40) won the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap by a nose over longshot Gabriel's Hill. Earlier races in the sequence were won by Shirley She Can ($16.80), Vaughndidit ($8.20), Loyal Shadow ($24.60), Stormy's Majesty ($7.20), and Spiritual Tune ($13.80).
The consolation payout (5 of 6) returned $6,464.
ELMONT, N.Y. - His journey has led from Chicago to New York, Philadelphia to Oklahoma, back to Chicago, over to Dubai, and then back to New York. Another 1 1/2 miles later, the well-traveled Alcomo had earned his first graded stakes win since leaving his native Brazil. He outnodded pacesetter Gabriel's Hill at the end of the Grade 2, $200,000 for older horses on steamy Friday afternoon at Belmont Park.