Even a handicap could not stop Superior Storm from winning the for the second year in a row.
Racing over a sloppy track for which she does not care, Superior Storm stalked the pace of Miss Bean Wah, took over at the quarter pole, and went on to a 1 1/2-length victory. Vickies in Town, a 56-1 longshot, finished second, with Hisse rallying for third.
"Her class showed up," said trainer Richard Jackson. "I don't think she handled this off going as well as we'd have liked."
MIAMI - Trainer Kathleen O'Connell thought enough of her promising 2-year-old Fly by Phil that she planned to run him against the mighty Jackson Bend in the In Reality division of the Florida Stallion Stakes off his maiden win. Unfortunately, she never got that opportunity after Fly by Phil suffered a minor foot injury training up to the final leg of the Stallion series.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Good Reason SA proved Friday that experience is not necessary to win the nation's richest Quarter Horse race.
Making his fourth career start, Good Reason SA ($49) had a clean trip in a somewhat messy race to win Friday's Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.
Ridden by Ramon Sanchez for trainer Paul Jones, Good Reason SA led throughout the 400 yards, winning by a neck over even-money favorite Apollitical Jess, the fastest qualifier to the Los Alamitos Two Million. Fovee, a 20-1 outsider, finished third in the field of 10, a nose behind Apollitical Jess.
Lost in the glare of the record-setting season that trainer Steve Asmussen has had at the Remington Park meet that closes Monday were the strong performances of trainers John Locke and Chris Hartman.
Both will now head to different regions. Locke will look to continue what has been one of the best years of his career at Delta Downs and Sam Houston Race Park. Hartman, meanwhile, is heading to New Mexico to chase his fourth consecutive title at Sunland Park.
Lava Man was officially scratched from Saturday's $150,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park on race morning because of track condition, trainer Doug O'Neill said.
The 8-year-old gelding, unraced since July 2008, will be pointed for the $150,000 San Gabriel Handicap over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 27.
O'Neill said on Friday that he would scratch Lava Man from the Native Diver because of rain that day and expected rain early Saturday. Rain fell until late morning on Saturday and was expected to continue through the afternoon.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Joel Rosario grabbed a spot in Hollywood Park's record book with a six-win day Friday. By doing so, he may have clinched the riding title at the fall meeting.
Rosario, who began the day with a three-race lead over Rafael Bejarano, ended the program with an eight-race advantage, 31 to 23. The fall meeting ends Dec. 20. There was racing on Saturday and Sunday over the weekend and four days of racing this week - Thursday through Sunday.
Rosario won with 6 of his 7 mounts Friday, tying a record shared by three Hall of Famers.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lava Man's expected comeback in Saturday's $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park is unlikely to happen.
Lava Man's trainer, Doug O'Neill, said on Friday that Lava Man is "not officially" out of the Native Diver, but said he did not see a scenario in which the 8-year-old would run. Intermittent rain began falling in Southern California early Friday and was expected to continue into Saturday. O'Neill said he was reluctant to run Lava Man on a synthetic surface that encountered rain.
Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that Quality Road will return to the scene of his finest hour, Gulfstream Park, to open his 2010 campaign in the Grade 3 Hal's Hope Handicap on opening day, Jan. 3. Quality Road moved to the top of the 3-year-old division last spring with his impressive victory in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Quality Road worked for the first time since arriving at Palm Meadows on Monday.
Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Okla., which was shuttered on Nov. 28, has been purchased by Cherokee Nation in a deal that closed Thursday. The tribe operates Will Rogers Downs near Tulsa, but said there are no immediate plans for use of its new acquisition.
"We had an opportunity to purchase property that is within our tribal jurisdiction so we always closely consider that and see it as a wise business decision to take advantage of that any time we can," David Stewart, the chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, said in a release issued Friday.
MIAMI - Restrictions that prohibited horses from shipping in or out of Calder will be lifted Sunday, nearly two weeks after a quarantine was imposed on three barns following a confirmed case of equine herpesvirus. But entries at Calder may not benefit as much as hoped due to shipping restrictions put into place by Gulfstream Park and the Palm Meadows training center.
