Mon, 02/15/2010 - 00:00

Red Lead scores by two lengths in Curribot

Red Lead proved he will be a nice fit against the handicap division this year in New Mexico, when he drove to a two-length win over Quiet Again in the $50,000 Curribot at Sunland Park on Sunday. It was another 3 1/4 lengths back in third to favorite Song of Navarone.

Red Lead ($5.20) stalked pacesetter Z Humor through an opening half-mile in 49 seconds, advanced from there and went on to cover 1 1/16 miles on a track rated fast in 1:44.

Ken Tohill rode the winner for Frontier Stables and trainer Chris Hartman.

Mon, 02/15/2010 - 00:00

Rule impressive ontrack and off in Davis

Tom Cooley
Rule, with John Velazquez up, wins Saturday's Grade 3 Sam Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Tampa Bay Downs's Festival Preview Day for 2010 is history, and the 12-race program was full of prizes and surprises, from Woodruff Ridge's $52.80 upset in the eighth race over 33-1 Later Gater, which produced a $1,123.20 exacta, to Rule's authoritative three-length victory in the .

Mon, 02/15/2010 - 00:00

Beulah cancels Monday card

Beulah Park has canceled its Monday card due to inclement weather. A winter snow storm hit the Columbus area on Monday morning and is expected to drop six to nine inches of snow through Tuesday evening.

Mon, 02/15/2010 - 00:00

Santa Anita Sunday carryover: $516K

For the second consecutive day, no one had six winners in Santa Anita's pick six on Saturday, resulting in a carryover of $516,485 into Sunday. Sunday's total pool could reach $2.5 million, according to track officials.

Santa Anita offers a nine-race card on Sunday, with first post at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The pick six will cover races 4 through 9.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

Striking Dancer pulls La Canada upset

ARCADIA, Calif. - Striking Dancer encountered nothing but trouble in her local debut last month, but given a trouble-free trip on Sunday, she was able to pull off a 13-1 surprise in the for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

Striking Dancer ($28.60) came storming down the center of the track under jockey Alex Solis to defeat 17-1 shot Gripsholm Castle by 1 1/2 lengths, with Floating Heart another half-length back in third. Stardom Bound, the 2-1 favorite, finished seventh in the 11-horse field.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

St Trinians to take shot at Big Cap

ARCADIA, Calif. -- St Trinians, who captured the Santa Maria Handicap on Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6 and take on males in her next start, trainer Mike Mitchell said Sunday.

The options for St Trinians were to either run there, or wait another week and take on Zenyatta in the Grade 1, $250,000 Santa Margarita Invitational for fillies and mares.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

Fuzzy Britches reaffirms sprint credentials

Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said he chose to run Fuzzy Britches in Sunday's six-furlong Dearly Precious Stakes rather than Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Busher Stakes because, simply put, he felt the 3-year-old filly was better sprinting than she was going long.

Fuzzy Britches, second in the Busanda around two turns last time out, proved her trainer correct by running down Wild News in the final 70 yards to win the by a half-length at Aqueduct. Judge Sonya, who finished behind Fuzzy Britches when third in the Busanda, rallied to get second Sunday by a head over Wild News.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

In the Rough gets winning trip

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In the Rough parlayed a dream trip under jockey Joe Bravo into a three-quarter-length victory over Check the Label in Sunday's at Gulfstream Park.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

Nothing humble about them now

Benoit & Associates
Blind Luck (left) gets up in the final stride to win the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Snita on Saturday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Two horses who began their careers in maiden-claiming races made big splashes in key 3-year-old stakes races at Santa Anita on Saturday, when Caracortado remained unbeaten in the for fillies.

Caracortado ($11), the fourth choice in a five-horse field, sent well-regarded Tiz Chrome and American Lion to defeat when scoring a 1 3/4-length victory over the late-running Dave in Dixie, with American Lion, favored Tiz Chrome, and Tango Tango completing the order of finish.

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:00

Munnings helps Pletcher double his pleasure

Bob Cognialese
Munnings, under Javier Castellano, takes the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Munnings completed an intrastate daily double for trainer Todd Pletcher when he launched his 2010 campaign with a hard-fought, one-length victory over Congressional Page in Saturday's $150,000 .

Fifteen minutes earlier, while in the process of saddling Munnings, Pletcher watched on a television monitor from the paddock as his Rule captured the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.