Miss Singhsix made a four-wide move on the far turn and then held off fellow 4-5 co-favorite Love's Blush through the stretch to score a 1 1/2-length victory Saturday in the $55,200 Maryland Racing Media Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/8 miles at Laurel Park.
Helen Belen posted a thoroughly dominating triumph Saturday at 11-1 in the $50,000 Valdale Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., where none of the favorites hit the board in the one-mile Polytrack race for 3-year-old fillies.
With Sal Gonzalez Jr. riding for owner Desk Farms LLC and trainer Billy Denzik, Helen Belen went straight to front and was never threatened, drawing off down the stretch to win by 14 3/4 lengths over Hot Citizen, a 9-1 shot. Offlee Funny was third at 21-1, another length back, while Sister Resistor, the 11-10 favorite in the field of 10, ran sixth.
NEW ORLEANS - Stonehouse surprised everyone but his trainer as he put a neck in front of General Quarters to win the at Fair Grounds on Saturday.
Sent early to tackle heavy favorite Friesan Fire early in the 1 1/16-mile Mineshaft, General Quarters dueled with the odds-on favorite, eventually wearing him down. Stonehouse, the longest shot in the field, bid three wide at the top of the stretch, as Friesan Fire began to fade.
With Stonehouse coming on, General Quarters was headed, then re-rallied, and just missed.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - D' Funnybone may still have questions to answer regarding stamina, but he reaffirmed his status as a quality 3-year-old after rallying to a very professional one-length victory over A Little Warm in Saturday's at Gulfstream Park.
Gio Ponti's return to the races didn't go quite as planned Saturday as Karelian got loose on an easy lead under Rosemary Homeister and was able to hold off the multiple Eclipse Award champion Gio Ponti by a nose in the at Tampa Bay Downs.
Gio Ponti, the turf and older male champion of 2009, was making his first start since finishing second to Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita last November. His connections - trainer Christophe Clement and owner Shane Thomas Ryan - were using this race as a prep for the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 27.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - While many of the leading Kentucky Derby candidates stabled in south Florida ran here Saturday afternoon in the Hutcheson and Fountain of Youth, another member of that elite group, Noble's Promise, did his major work earlier that morning when he worked four furlongs in 48.40 seconds for trainer Ken McPeek.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - As far as Richard Migliore is concerned, he got paid to go horseback riding Saturday at Aqueduct.
Migliore was aboard Life At Ten, who broke on top and never looked back in cruising to a 5 1/4-length victory in Saturday's $65,000 Rare Treat Stakes. Starship Angel, who was a bit of trouble in the gate, chased Life At Ten the entire trip and finished second, 16 lengths ahead of Pumpkin Shell. Yet Again and Borrowing Base completed the order of finish on a day when front-runners won the first five races.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Beulah Park has been granted permission to run on Fridays in March by the Ohio State Racing Commission. Beulah Park management asked for the extra days to make up for days lost to winter storms and heavy snow that forced the cancellation of six racing cards in February.
Beulah will run March 5, 12, 19, and 26. Races for March 5 are not in the current condition book, but can be found online at BeulahPark.com and in the racing office. The new condition books will include the other added Fridays.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bill Spawr could not contain his excitement. A Jealous Woman had just extended her winning streak to four with a half-length win in an optional claimer at Santa Anita on Friday, and Spawr was looking toward the future.
"This is the real deal," Spawr said. "I don't know how good she is."
Ridden by Joe Talamo, A Jealous Woman won the longest race of her career on Friday and faced her strongest competition. She led throughout the 1 1/8-mile turf race and held off a late run from Welken, who was seeking her fourth consecutive win.
Richard Hazelton, among the leading trainers by career wins in the United States, sen out his final starter Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course.
Hazelton's stable has declined significantly in numbers during the last year. At the start of the Hawthorne meet, on Feb. 12, Hazelton had only five horses under his care. He said he has sent three horses owned by Richard Radke to trainer Rusty Hellman, who already had picked up horses for Radke, and will send the final two, owned by Craig Besinger, to trainer Wayne Catalano.
