Toccet's Charm came from off the early pace to take command in the stretch and draw clear to win the $50,000 Jamestown at Colonial Downs Tuesday evening, the final card of the meet.
Jockey Malcom Franklin kept Toccet's Charm on the inside while chasing the early pace before dueling in upper stretch. He then asked for the 2-year-old's best and Toccet's Charm responded, drawing off to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Argent Affair was second in the field of eight Virginia-bred 2-year-olds.
When Terry Houghton won six races at Pinnacle Race Course on opening weekend here in early June, it looked like just another typical Michigan meet, with Houghton running away with the jockey race. But Houghton left for Mountaineer and now there's a real contest for top rider.
Graduates of the John Franks Memorial 2-year-olds in training sale this past March will be showcased this weekend at Evangeline Downs, with the filly division slated for Friday night and the colt and gelding race scheduled for Saturday evening. Both stakes will be worth $100,000.
The meet opened on a high note last Friday with both attendance and ontrack handle up from last year's opening weekend. On the track, apprentice Ashley Dill opened the crowd's eyes with a riding triple, including a $42.60 winner in the middle of the card.
Jockey Scott Stevens is quickly moving in on his 4,000th career victory after winning his 3,997th race Sunday when he guided 24-1 Quarter Horse longshot Quattro to victory in the Grade 3, $44,550 Bayer Legend Central Derby Challenge at Canterbury Park.
* Wheely Fast set a new course record for 330 yards in the last race Sunday, an allowance event for Quarter Horses, winging home in 16.676 seconds under rider Jerry Winters. Trained by Ron Winget and owned by Al and Claire Lundgren, Wheely Fast broke the record of 16.781 set by Callies Corona in 2007.
Less than two months after spring meeting champion Jamie Ness set a Thistledown record for consecutive training victories by visiting the winner's circle nine times without a defeat, veteran horseman Gerald Bennett is poised to match Ness's efforts Friday.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Winning a $6 million race would make you fat and happy. Trainer Eoin Harty, one of the wittiest guys on the backstretch, is happy. Well Armed, whom Harty trained to win the Dubai World Cup four months ago, is fat.
"I can't get the belly off him," Harty said while feeding Well Armed a carrot at his Del Mar barn. "He looks a little too prosperous."
He's entitled to be that way after taking down a first prize of $3.6 million. And despite the extra weight, Harty is enthusiastic over how Well Armed is training. "Well Armed is super," he said emphatically.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Though sunshine eventually gave way to rain, Mother Nature couldn't dampen a robust opening day at Saratoga.
A crowd of 25,444 ushered in the 141st season, an increase of 40 percent over last year's crowd of 18,127. The ontrack crowd wagered $3,651,221, an increase of 30 percent over last year's $2,813,982. All-sources handle was $14,216,133, an increase of 24 percent over last year's $11,431,845.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - From the Freaky to the poignant to the remarkable, the major stakes winners at Los Alamitos last Saturday offered a preview for the lucrative Quarter Horse stakes in the second half of the year.
Freaky won his third stakes of 2009 in Saturday's $98,500 Spencer Childers Memorial Championship, enhancing his status as the leading contender for the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 12.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - With the turf training course session canceled due to the ongoing rains, Woodbine's main track was a busier place than usual for a Wednesday morning.
The most prominent names on the work tab included Not Bourbon, Sand Cove, and Sligovitiz, all of whom breezed in preparation for upcoming stakes engagements for trainer Roger Attfield.
Not Bourbon, with his regular rider Jono Jones in the irons, was clocked in 1:00.60 for five furlongs.
