ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Maritime Passion extended her unbeaten record to two races Sunday at Woodbine with a decisive score in the $150,000 Shady Well Stakes, for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies.
Chantal Sutherland got Maritime Passion off the rail shortly after breaking from post 1, and she dueled with Shesadozer on the lead through the turn.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Sea Chanter, as expected, scored a convincing victory Sunday in the $64,950 Pearl Necklace Stakes at Belmont Park.
The race conditions perfectly suited the 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher. The stakes was restricted to fillies and mares "which have not won a graded sweepstakes in 2008-2009."
Her lone previous win over the past two seasons was an allowance victory at Belmont last fall.
Hilton's Cherokee ($4.90), making his local and seasonal bow and his first start for trainer Emile Corbel, thrust himself into the Manitoba Derby picture by recording his first lifetime win in Saturday's $30,000 Harry Jeffrey at Assiniboia Downs.
The Harry Jeffrey, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, is the major local prep for the Manitoba Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race which will be run on Aug. 3.
Hilton's Cherokee, ridden by Alan Cuthbertson, stalked the pace before moving to the lead on the first turn and then going on to score by 1 3/4 lengths.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Izzy Rules ($5.60), who won her debut here on July 2, made a quick turnaround and scored a wire-to-wire victory in the Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes at the Alameda County Fair on Saturday.
The victory left trainer Jeff Bonde 3 for 3 in stakes at his hometown fair.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Showing a new dimension but winding up with the same result, Tuscan Evening sat off the pace and then gamely outdueled Patricia's Gem to score her third straight victory on Saturday in the for older female turf runners at Hollywood Park.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It's easy to put a label on a horse.
When Rail Trip entered training in 2007, trainer Ron Ellis thought he'd be a Derby horse in 2008. That ended when the colt was diagnosed with a bone chip in an ankle. Earlier this year, after Rail Trip won three two-turn races but was beaten in two stakes, it looked like was a miler.
It turns out that Rail Trip is a Gold Cup horse, as in Saturday's .
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Emerald City upset heavily favored Vying Ty Grr to win the inaugural running of the $54,716 Boulevard Casino Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Hastings on Saturday.
Emerald City broke sharply and then chased Vying Ty Grr until she gained the lead in the late stretch to win by three-quarters of a length. Vying Ty Grr set fractions of 22.15 and 45.97 seconds before tiring late. Bella Aviva finished third, five lengths behind Vying Ty Grr. Final time for the six-furlongs was 1:12.58. Emerals City paid $27.80.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Two Saturdays, two graded stakes at Arlington Park for Pennsylvania-based trainer Jonathan Sheppard.
On July 4, Sheppard won the Chicago Handicap with George Strawbridge's Informed Decision, and this time, Sheppard won the with Just as Well, whose soundness issues a couple years ago led Strawbridge to sell the horse to Sheppard himself.
Just as Well, a 6-year-old A.P. Indy horse, won the first stakes of his career - but he'll be back for more. Sheppard said Just as Well was likely to return to Chicago next month of the Arlington Million.
Robo Willie just held on to beat 3-2 favorite Cool Diablo by three-quarters of length in the $58,750 Ky Alta Handicap for 3-year-olds going a mile at Northlands Park on Saturday.
With leading rider Rickey Walcott on board, Robo Willie stalked the pace set by It's Good to Be Me for the first six furlongs. Robo Willie went to the front on the stretch turn, and after opening up a two-length lead at the top of the stretch he was all out to hold off Cool Diablo in the final strides. Tease the Tiger made a late move to finish a nonthreatening third.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Back in April, the management of Lone Star Park began making plans to honor the track's all-time winningest trainer, Steve Asmussen, at the meet that was upcoming. Saturday, things came together in a big way. Asmussen was feted as Lone Star's man of the year during a card in which he set a record for trainer wins in a meet and swept half of the four stakes that made up the $375,000 Stars of Texas Day.