SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Bold Chieftain ($3.40) scored his first victory of the year as he continued to close in on the million-dollar mark in earnings, capturing the $80,000 Governor's Handicap at the California State Fair on Monday.
Bold Chieftain's 12th career victory earned him $46,000 to lift his career earnings to $963,411 in 30 starts for owner-breeders Ernest Langbein, Kenneth Robinson, Dwaine Hall, and trainer Bill Morey Jr.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - Seaside Links snagged his fourth straight win under a good ride by Luis Ranilla to capture Monday's $10,525 Labor Day Stakes at Columbus on Monday afternoon.
Sent off the 3-5 favorite in a field of seven, Seaside Links took control through the final turn of the 6 1/2-furlong race to draw off by 4 1/2 lengths under a hand ride in 1:20 flat over a fast track. Longshots Blake Rattlenroll and Recast, both sent off 19-1, checked in behind the winner to key a 2-3-6 trifecta worth $267.60. Seaside Links returned $3.40 to win.
AUBURN, Wash. - Winning Machine raced to a hard-fought victory Monday in the $75,000 Emerald Derby, all but clinching honors as the top 3-year-old at Emerald Downs. Rooster City finished a head behind in second, with 6-5 wagering favorite Peaceful Reign another length back in third.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When D. Wayne Lukas attended the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale, the colt that struck his fancy the most was a son of dual-classic winner Afleet Alex out of the Grade 1-winning mare Classy Mirage.
"He was my No. 1 pick in the fall sale," said Lukas, who convinced owners Robert Baker and William Mack to plunk down $525,000 to get the colt who would be named Dublin.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Rachel Alexandra will most likely not run again this year, but will be considered for a 4-year-old campaign in 2010, majority owner Jess Jackson said Sunday, the day after his superstar became the first female horse to win the in the 56-year history of the race.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Put the hottest trainer on the grounds in a race he has dominated, and the result seems almost pre-ordained. And so it was that on Monday, when trainer Bob Baffert won the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity for a record ninth time, this time with Lookin at Lucky, who gave Baffert his third Grade 1 victory in the past two days.
Baffert won both the Pacific Classic and the Pat O'Brien Stakes on Sunday. Lookin At Lucky's victory gave Baffert wins in five of the nine Grade 1 stakes races run here this summer.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Heavily favored Teide dominated the $51,591 S.W. Randall Plate for older horses at Hastings on Monday.
Under a confident ride by Chad Hoverson, Teide broke sharply and after dueling with and disposing of Krazy Koffee early, he repelled a bid by Spaghetti Mouse at the quarter pole. Teide was three-lengths clear at the top of the stretch and then widened his margin to 4 3/4 lengths while being ridden out. Spaghetti Mouse held on to finish second. Texas Wildcatter made a late move to get up for third.
Apprentice jockey Joshua Navarro, 17, rode six winners on Monday's final card of the Maryland State Fair meeting at Timonium to capture his first riding title.
Navarro,a native of Puerto Rico who collected his first career victory on Aug. 7 at Laurel Park, began Monday tied with Gerald Almodovar at 10 wins apiece, but Almodovar elected to ride at his home track of Charles Town on the holiday.
Fleet Valid, unbeaten since he was claimed by trainer Scott Volk for $14,000 on April 2 at Aqueduct, stretched his winning streak to four races by scoring a 2 3/4-length victory in Monday's co-featured $75,000 Icecapade Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Pedro Morales rode Fleet Valid, a 6-year-old gelding who covered the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.25.
On the Vineyard finished second at 22-1, 1 1/4 lengths in front of Make Me Zach.
Runnning Brook Girl dominated the Grade 1, $1.9 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on Monday, much the way her trainer, Paul Jones, has been ruling Quarter Horse racing. The national training champ the past seven years, Jones picked up his third All American win on Monday, a day after he sent out Inseperable to take the Grade 1, $624,784 All American Derby.
"It was an excellent weekend," Jones said. "It doesn't get any better than this - the derby then coming back and winning the futurity. It's just phenomenal."
