HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Lookin At Lucky passed more tests than expected in Saturday's when, in his first start on dirt and his first race in blinkers, he also overcame being checked down the backside to pull off a head win over Noble's Promise. It was the first start since December for Lookin At Lucky, the champion 2-year-old of 2009.
"He had a little bit of a Kentucky Derby experience today, getting bounced around like that," said Bob Baffert, who trains Lookin At Lucky. "So, that was pretty big."
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In the days leading up to Saturday's Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap, trainer Marty Wolfson was sure You and I Forever would run a good race. But it wasn't until the night before the race that Wolfson was sure he would get to run the 5-year-old son of A.P. Indy.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. did not quite follow the instructions trainer Dave Vivian laid out for her in the paddock before Saturday's at Tampa Bay Downs. And he couldn't have been happier she didn't after Diva Delite rallied to a two-length victory over C C's Pal in the Grade 3 test for 3-year-old fillies.
NEW ORLEANS - Rachel Alexandra was Horse of the Year in 2009, but before a packed house Saturday at Fair Grounds, all eyes trained on her 2010 debut, Rachel was not the horse of the day, going down to a three-quarters of a length defeat at the hands of Zardana in the inaugural running of the
The defeat put in some doubt Rachel Alexandra's participation in the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said shortly after the Ladies.
Timeless Fashion held on in the drive after leading all the way to post an emotional victory Saturday in the $50,000 Tejano Run Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
With Jimmy Lopez riding for trainer Tom Drury Jr., Timeless Fashion won for connections close to the late jockey Justin Vitek, for whom a memorial service was held following the 11-race card. Lopez, Drury, and owners Judy Miller and Bob Leidle donated 10 percent of their earnings, or a total of $3,000, to an education fund for Vitek s surviving daughter, Bree.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - The Saturday card at Fonner Park was canceled following the third race because the riders deemed the track unsafe. The track had been wet for over a week, and with frost coming out of the ground, the surface was determined to be unsafe to ride.
The $25,000 Orphan Kist Stakes for Nebraska-bred fillies and mares will be rescheduled for next Saturday when an 11-race card will be offered. Also on tap that day is the $10,000 Bachman Stakes for 3-year-olds and the $25,000 Budweiser-Tondi Stakes for older horses.
Pashito the Che, who has strung together five consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures against stakes company, and Ravalo, whose 2009 season included a Grade 3 stakes victory and a half-length loss in a Grade 1 race, make a rare non-stakes appearance in Monday's featured ninth race at Philadelphia Park.
The six-furlong allowance, which carries a $46,000 purse, is restricted to horses who have not won a first-place purse of $17,500 three times since Sept. 15.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Wayne Catalano will put his training skills to the test again.
Catalano scratched She Be Wild, last year's 2-year-old filly champion, out of Saturday's Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs and instead will train her up to the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland on April 3. The Ashland, run over a synthetic surface, will be She Be Wild's second race of the year and first in nine weeks.
The results of the $100,000 Borderland Derby last month at Sunland Park have been appealed by the connections of Raise the Bridle, who finished first but was disqualified for impeding a rival and placed second. The appeal of the stewards' decision is scheduled to be heard at Thursday's meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission.
Raise the Bridle races for Buena Suerte Equine and Double Eagle Ranch, the New Mexico-based partnership that owns Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
