ALBANY, Calif. - Antares World ($3.20) sat behind pacesetting Kaloula early, moved on her own, and was never seriously challenged as she won the $60,000 Golden Poppy at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.
A 3-year-old Decarchy filly, coming off a troubled trip in the Grade 2 Providencia at Santa Anita two weeks ago in her last start, Antares World got a dream trip in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Injury prevented Tyler Baze from having anything close to a meaningful meeting at Hollywood Park last fall. He is determined to make up for that when the track opens its spring-summer meeting on Wednesday.
"I think I have a lot of momentum and a lot of good business," he said on Friday.
Baze, who through Friday was tied for sixth in the standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, had three wins at Santa Anita on Friday, including the $58,300 Santa Lucia Handicap on Devine Actress.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Alex Solis is relocating to Kentucky this weekend, he said on Saturday.
Solis's final day at Santa Anita was Saturday. He is booked to ride at Keeneland on Sunday.
Solis said the move is likely to be permanent and gives him a chance to try a different circuit. Through Friday, Solis was tied for 12th in the standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting with 18 wins from 200 mounts. He has been based in Southern California since relocating from Florida in 1985.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the late going of Friday's Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland, tire tracks from the starting gate posed more of a challenge to victorious Haka than her four opponents.
Such was the deceptive dominance of her victory. Though her winning margin was relatively small - a length over pacesetter Funny Moon - Haka proved much the best in the $98,000 Doubledogdare, a 1 1/16-mile race on the Polytrack, after hesitating approaching marks on the racetrack in the final 20 yards of the race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Carolyn Costigan's training career had a memorable beginning when her first starter, Roan Inish, won the $251,200 Princess Elizabeth at Woodbine in October.
Costigan is hoping for even more this year from Roan Inish, who is pointing for the Woodbine Oaks and, if all goes well, the Queen's Plate.
"She wintered very well," Costigan said. "She's bigger, stronger - in better form physically and happier, mentally, than when she shipped in from Ireland last year."
Atlantic City Race Course in Hamilton Township, N.J., will hold the first of its six 2010 race cards on Sunday, kicking off a mini-meet that has become popular among horsemen in the region.
The six races on the opening-day card, all on turf, have drawn 70 horses, with five races offering 12-horse fields. Monday's six races have drawn the maximum of 72 horses, and Tuesday's six-race card has drawn 71.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With hopes for a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 diminishing by the day, Caracortado is likely to start in the $200,000 Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park next Saturday.
Trainer Mike Machowsky said Friday that Caracortado, winner of the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in February, was "60 to 70 percent" likely to run in the Snow Chief Stakes, which is run over 1 1/8 miles for California-bred 3-year-olds.
Hot Dixie Chick, an easy winner of her lone start at 3, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $100,000 Eight Belles Stakes on the May 1 Kentucky Derby undercard.
Hot Dixie Chick has been working on the same mornings as Rachel Alexandra for Asmussen. Hot Dixie Chick, a daughter of Dixie Union, won the Grade 3 Schuylerville and Grade 1 Spinaway last summer at Saratoga before a minor injury forced her on a 6 1/2-month layoff that ended with a 5 3/4-length score in the March 20 Prima Donna at Oaklawn Park.
Two options for General Quarters
ARCADIA, Calif. - Falcon Rock will give Simon Callaghan his best chance for a graded stakes win this year in Sunday's $150,000 San Juan Capistrano, and the trainer has virtually no chance of seeing the race live.
Last week, Callaghan traveled to his native England to attend a 2-year-olds in-training sale. He has been stuck there in recent days after a volcano in Iceland spewed ash in the sky and shut down air travel in that country.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - No, Josie Carroll isn't monitoring every move that Rachel Alexandra makes, but she does have more than a passing interest in where the superstar filly shows up next.
That's because Carroll intends to have Careless Jewel make her 4-year-old debut at Churchill Downs on the April 30 Kentucky Oaks undercard in the Grade 2, $400,000 La Troienne Stakes, a race often mentioned as a possible next start for Rachel Alexandra.