AUBURN, Wash. - Hollywood Harbor continued his domination of Emerald Downs' 2-year-old male division Saturday with a 2 1/2-length victory in the $50,000 WTBA Lads Stakes.
In winning his third consecutive stakes races, Hollywood Harbor ran one mile in 1:36.40 on a fast track and paid $3. Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo rode the winner for trainer Chris Stenslie and owners Jody Peetz of Issaquah, Wash., and John Holmes of Shoreline, Wash.
AUBURN, Wash. - Knight Raider ran her winning streak to four with a 3 3/4-length victory Sunday in the $60,000 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes, joining Smarty Deb (2007) as the only juvenile fillies to win three stakes races in a season at Emerald Downs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It would appear that trainer Sid Attard and owners Carlo and Lou Tucci are on their way back to the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 20.
And for the second straight time, the connections will be represented by a claimed horse in the $1 million turf race after Jungle Wave solidified his credentials with a three-quarter-length victory under regular rider Todd Kabel in this past Saturday's $207,200 Play the King.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - "It's her show!"
That's how trainer Nick Zito described Rachel Alexandra's attempt to defeat older males in Saturday's Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga, where the first 25,000 fans through the door will receive a free Rachel Alexandra button to commemorate the occasion.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Rick Mettee should have felt better than he did Sunday morning, reviewing the proceedings of the previous day.
"It doesn't feel like we won two graded stakes [Saturday]," said Mettee, the Godolphin assistant trainer.
Though Godolphin did win the .
"The King's Bishop is such a hard race to win. It's a race I've always respected," Mettee said Sunday. "Yesterday's field was such a good race."
Saturday was a day stewards Dennis Nevin, Will Meyers, and Grant Baker would like to forget.
In the first race at the California State Fair, there were three separate disqualifications in a 400-yard mule race.
The original winner (No. 6, Jet Fuel) was disqualified from first and placed second. The original third-place finisher (No. 5, Candyman) was disqualified and placed last. The original fourth-place finisher (No. 2, Image of Tomahawk) was disqualified and placed fifth.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Was that fog rolling in to Del Mar Sunday night and lasting into Monday morning, or steam rising from trainer Ron Ellis?
Ellis was upset after Rail Trip, the Hollywood Gold Cup winner, worked a mile in 1:36 here on Sunday morning in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic this Sunday. By late Monday morning, though, the fog was starting to lighten, and so was Ellis's mood.
"He's great," Ellis said. "He's doing very, very well. He did it easy. Hopefully we didn't leave his race on the racetrack. He doesn't act like it."
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Amy Tarrant hopes to send Kiss the Kid off with a flourish in his final two races, a sequence that starts Sunday at Monmouth Park with the Grade 3, $175,000 Red Bank Stakes at one mile on the turf.
The Red Bank, the final graded stakes of the meet, is the richest of the six races on the Jersey Shore over the Labor Day weekend. Saturday features 2-year-olds in the Grade 3, $150,000 Sapling and the $100,000 Sorority for fillies.
Owned and trained by Tarrant, Kiss the Kid is a multiple graded stakes winner with earnings of more than $650,000.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It Happened Again will make his Hastings debut in the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial on Monday. There are five stakes scheduled for Labor Day, but the Derby Trial is easily the day's most important race. It gives horses on the bubble a chance to boost their earnings enough to get into the Grade 3, $275,000 B.C. Derby on Sept. 27.
