Trainer Steve Asmussen opened 2010 with a stakes win Friday night at Delta Downs, when Hear No Angel rallied up the rail for a neck victory in the $75,000 Cocodrie. The horse's score comes on the heels of a 2009 in which Asmussen led all North American-based trainers in wins and earnings. Dessy finished second in the Cocodrie, which was restricted to horses bred in Louisiana.
The race shared a card with the $75,000 Gardenia won by Intimissimi ($5).
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - South Florida has been a winter haven for Kentucky Derby hopefuls for decades. This is not some nostalgic bent. Three of the last four Derby winners, and four of the last seven, have made Florida their winter home, so it's little wonder that racing fans are already asking about which Florida 3-year-olds have a legitimate chance of making it to the 136th Derby on May 1.
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Jockey Garrett Gomez celebrated his 38th birthday on New Year's Day on Friday at Santa Anita by sweeping the day's two stakes races.
The biggest win came in the in which he guided favored Compari ($4.60) to a gate-to-wire win by 1 3/4 lengths on the hillside turf course. Enriched was second and Live Sundays third.
Compari completed the about 6 1/2-furlong course in 1:12.42. The win was the fourth straight for Compari, who was bred and is owned by John Harris, John Nicoletti, and Don Valpredo.
ARCADIA, Calif. -- A parade of longshots at Santa Anita on Friday knocked out all pick six players after just three legs had been completed. There is a carryover of $115,261 for Saturday's races, which begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time. There is a nine-race card on Saturday, headlined by Life Is Sweet in the San Gorgonio Handicap. The pick six begins with the fourth race, at approximately 2 p.m. Pacific.
Antares World didn't yield an inch, dueling the length of the stretch with Fashion Trend and winning the by a head Friday at Golden Gate Fields.
Undefeated Seeking the Queen, the 7-5 favorite, took the lead in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, but was rank in her first start around two turns.Antares World and jockey Frank Alvarado made a quick move to grab the lead into the second turn, with Fashion Trend charging into contention just outside them.
The New York-based filly That's How I Roll doesn't normally race on the lead. But she dragged jockey Erick Rodriguez to the front in Friday's $50,000 Maryland Filly Championship at Laurel Park and remained ahead of her competition throughout the 7 1/2-furlong stakes.
"I was thinking about taking back but she wanted the lead," said Rodriguez, who led the Laurel fall jockey standings with 53 winners. "She got the lead so easily that when the other horses came at us she still had a lot left in the tank."
Mandella has the first-time starter Pay for Play in Sunday's ninth and final race, for maiden fillies going 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. He said Pay for Play has trained "okay" for her debut, but he is hoping the turf will help.
"She's out of Paga, who was a real nice grass mare," Mandella said. "I'm hoping the turf improves my training."
Tiz True arrived on this circuit a little more than one year ago after winning his debut at Aqueduct, and was turned over to trainer David Hofmans. He had high hopes for Tiz True, but in three races last winter at Santa Anita, on both turf and Pro-Ride, Tiz True failed to finish in the money.
"I thought he had a chance to go on the Kentucky Derby trail, but it didn't work out," Hofmans said Friday morning.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In the matter of a few weeks about a year ago, the parade of top horses leaving the Bruce Headley barn, to either retirement, sale, or relocation, was staggering. Arson Squad, Magnificience, Street Boss, and Surf Cat - the four best horses in the barn - all departed.
"We went from everything to nothing," Karen Headley, the top assistant to her father, said Friday morning at Santa Anita.
The new year has dawned with great promise for the Headley barn, though.
"A lot of horses have stepped up to the plate," Headley said.
Breeders' Cup Turf runner-up Presious Passion returned to the track Friday for the first time since his fifth-place finish the previous Saturday in Calder's Grade 2 W.L. McKnight Handicap. As usual, Presious Passion was full of himself during training hours while looking none the worse for wear from his experience in the McKnight.
