INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bestdressed took advantage of a fast pace to score a last-to-first upset Saturday at Hollywood Park in the $79,250 On Trust Handicap for California-bred sprinters at 7 1/2 furlongs on the main track.
Joel Rosario rode Bestdressed ($12.60) for trainer John Sadler, who attributed the gelding's recent murky form to bad racing luck. Bestdressed lagged 10 lengths off a 44.86-second opening half, rallied four wide into the lane, and won going away.
Saxet Heights erased a 2 1/2-length deficit in the final furlong to win Saturday night's $51,200 My Sister Pearl Stakes for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares at Charles Town.
Beware of the Bop, a 3-year-old who was racing beyond seven furlongs for the first time while seeking her ninth win in 11 starts this season, set the pace over a muddy track in the 1 1/8-mile race and looked home free after the first mile. Despite lugging in under jockey Luis Perez, Saxet Heights ($4.20) closed strongly to prevail by a half-length while completing the distance in 1:52.90.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There is a pick six carryover of $164,755 into the Sunday card at Churchill Downs after a disqualification in the last race Saturday resulted in what would have been the only winning ticket being nullified.
Boltronic barely finished first over Soldier Field in the Saturday nightcap, but following a stewards' inquiry, their order was reversed, resulting in no winning tickets. The one ticket that would have been a winner was purchased in California and was the only live ticket going into the final race, according to Churchill officials.
That was a familiar sight.
There went Desert Wheat, charging through the stretch at Fair Grounds to win the Mr. Sulu Handicap late Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. That was the fourth time Desert Wheat had triumphed in a Fair Grounds grass race, and he won the Mr. Sulu last year when it was rained onto dirt. The 6-year-old Desert Wheat been doing his thing on the Fair Grounds grass so long, he actually beat Mr. Sulu himself, this race's namesake, while winning the Louisiana Champions Day Turf in 2006, his first trip around the local grass.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On the eve of the start of a 30-day suspension stemming from a medication violation at Churchill Downs, Rick Dutrow sent out the winner of the Mrs. Revere Stakes at this same track. Mary's Follies surged to a 9-1 upset Saturday in the for the same team - Dutrow and jockey Kent Desormeaux - that won the 2008 Kentucky Derby here with Big Brown.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Palladio ($20.40) kicked clear from the pack in the stretch en route to a decisive score in the at Woodbine Saturday.
The makeup of the Grade 2 event changed with the scratches of Ice Bear, Stunning Stag and Eye of the Leopard, and Palladio made the most of it under an excellent ride by Richard Dos Ramos.
Love Who and Karmageddon, both 9-2 second choices, pulled off mild upsets over odd-on favorites Friday night in the $60,000 divisions of the New Jersey Juvenile at the Meadowlands.
The races are the richest events of the season for 2-year-olds bred in New Jersey.
Love Who, fourth in his previous effort in the Maryland Millions Nursery at Laurel, romped by 10 3/4 lengths on Friday. Stewart Elliott was aboard.
Love's Blush broke through for her first stakes victory in the $50,000 All Brandy for Maryland-bred fillies and mares at Laurel Park.
Third in the Maryland Million Oaks two starts back and second in the Twixt last out, Love's Blush rallied from fourth place midway through the 1 1/8-mile All Brandy to defeat Sweet Goodbye by 1 1/4 lengths, with Amie's Legend 2 1/2 lengths farther back in third in the field of seven.
Howdy Boy Rib, sent off at 25-1, upset a field of eight Ohio-accredited older horses in the $55,000 Ruff/Kirchberg Memorial at Beulah Park on Saturday.
Trained by Don Goeing, Howdy Boy Rib bobbled at the start from post 5 and was content with being held back off the quick pace, but no worse than third early. Jockey Yuri Yaranga asked the 7-year-old gelding for more on the far turn and he responded, closing with a rush to take over in upper stretch and cruising to a 5 3/4-length victory. He covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.63 and returned $52.
MIAMI - When you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not. The old adage certainly applied to the after Too Many Toyz registered his fourth straight victory with a thrilling one-length decision over the 3-5 favorite It's a Bird. The outcome completed a forgettable afternoon for It's a Bird's trainer, Marty Wolfson, and jockey, Julian Leparoux, who failed to win a race despite teaming up with odds-on favorites in four of the eight races on Saturday's Florida Million program at Calder.
