Russell Road reaffirmed his status as the top 3-year-old on the grounds at Charles Town by easily winning Saturday night's $50,000 Frank Gall Memorial Handicap.
Ridden by Eric Camacho for trainer James W. Casey, Russell Road ($2.20) improved his record to 8 for 10 locally with his 2 1/4-length score over a sloppy and sealed racetrack while facing older West Virginia-breds. He completed the seven furlongs in 1:25.29 to earn his sixth lifetime stakes victory.
Jockey Jamie Theriot swept into Remington Park on Saturday night and accounted for the track's two premier sprint races when he guided Greeley's Conquest to a half-length win over Sing Baby Sing in the
The races served as the first stakes of the meet at Remington.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tim Ice was already feeling good about his 3-year-old Summer Bird's chances in next week's $1 million Travers Stakes. But the trainer's confidence level ratcheted up a notch after watching the Belmont Stakes winner work a solid five furlongs in 1:00.91 early Saturday morning over a muddy Saratoga strip.
Even though Ice was satisfied with Summer Bird's five-furlong work last week, he was encouraged to see the pattern that has developed with this horse continue. That is, his second work at a new track is better than the first.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The good trip that had largely escaped Internallyflawless in her brief career finally came her way Saturday at Del Mar, and she took advantage of the situation to record her first Grade 1 victory in the $350,000 Del Mar Oaks.
Internallyflawless ($15.80) benefited from a heads-up ride from Garrett Gomez, and a sluggish pace and wide trip that compromised the chances of favored Well Monied, to score a mild upset. She turned back a tenacious Nan, a 30-1 shot, in the final furlong to win by a half-length. Well Monied was another length back in third.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - While there was no Rachel Alexandra in Saturday's at Saratoga, there was a Rachel-esque performance turned in by the winner.
What looked like an evenly-matched 129th renewal of the Alabama Stakes on paper turned into a mismatch on the racetrack as Canadian invader Careless Jewel demolished seven 3-year-old fillies to win Saturday's $600,000 Alabama by 11 lengths.
Mr. Windjammer ($16) pulled off the upset Saturday in the $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial Handicap for New York-breds at Finger Lakes.
A 4-year-old chestnut gelding trained by Jonathan Buckley, Mr. Windjammer faced open company in his last two races, a seventh in the Wadsworth Memorial behind Sweetnorthernsaint and a fourth in an allowance race.
He perked up on the return to the statebred ranks. Mr. Windjammer improved to 8-for-17, earning his first stakes win since the Ontario County here last summer.
Secretintelligence took the lead shortly after the start and never looked back in winning Saturday's restricted $75,700 New Castle Stakes at Delaware Park.
Secretintelligence, ridden by Jose Caraballo and trained by Tim Ritchey, pulled clear from Homecroft in upper stretch and was able to hold off a fast-closing Wawaset Park by a half-length at the wire. Homecroft finished another 1 1/2 lengths behind in third.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - As expected, a front-runner captured the on the sloppy, sealed track Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Stunningly, the winner was not Coal Play, the 4-5 favorite who finished fourth.
The victory went to Chirac ($26.40), a 4-year-old gelding overlooked by the bettors despite having won three of four starts at the meet.
Chirac pulled clear in the lane, beating You and I Forever by 6 3/4 lengths, with Pampered Sir third.
Elvis Trujillo was aboard for trainer Jane Cibelli as Chirac improved to 7 for 16 with the biggest victory of his career.
Blind Date took a big drop for the $50,000 Pearl Necklace Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday and her class was apparent through the stretch run as she pulled away under confident handling by jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. to win by 4 1/2 lengths.
Due to wet weather, the Pearl Necklace was switched from 1 1/16 miles on turf to a one-turn mile on Laurel's good main track, and the field scratched down from nine entrants to five starters.
