ARCADIA, Calif. - Acting Lady, who lost her first four starts in stakes, won the $150,000 Providencia Stakes in an upset on Saturday.
Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Acting Lady ($43.60) outdueled Italian stakes winner Mrs Kipling in the final sixteenth to win the one-mile turf race by a half-length. Pasar Silbano, the early pacesetter, held third in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies. Rosy Mantle, the 2-1 favorite, finished fifth, 3 1/4 lengths behind Acting Lady.
Jockey Tim Doocy became the 24th rider in history to win 5,000 races on Saturday, when he guided Color Out to a 3 3/4- length win in the 11th race at Oaklawn Park. The $10,000 maiden claimer was run at a mile, and Doocy was aboard for trainer Lynn Chleborad.
"It feels good to finally get win 5,000," he said. "I've been doing this a long time and to reach 5,000 was awesome. It has been a long time coming. I want to thank everybody that has supported me, given me a chance, and been there for me."
Eddie Plesa Jr. and Lynn Scace shared the spotlight Saturday on Florida Cup day at Tampa Bay Downs, both trainers winning two stakes apiece on a card that featured six stakes races restricted to Florida-breds.
Plesa won his races back to back, the Sophomore with Bee Cee Cee and the Turf Classic with Fearless Eagle. Scace won the Sophomore Fillies with the undefeated Snow Lass before returning a couple of hours later to upset the Sprint with the 30-1 On the Vineyard. The six stakes were worth $85,000 each.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - When a trainer has won 8 of his last 27 starts, you don't expect him to describe his feelings about his stable's fortunes as "frustrating." But that is exactly how Gerald Bennett and his outfit feel these days.
Since Flyingpalm won here on March 20, the Bennett stable has been winning at better than a 30 percent clip.
Fair Grounds shipper Mullins Beach ($15.90) broke on top and led virtually all the way in a convincing score in the $100,800 La Voyageuse Stakes, Woodbine's opening-day feature Saturday.
Patrick Husbands rode Mullins Beach, who shrugged off two early challengers during an opening quarter-mile in a wind-assisted 22.24 seconds. She began to draw away in the final furlong, and prevailed by 3 3/4 lengths in a time of 58.59 for the five furlongs. Sans Sousi nosed out favored High Mist for second in the seven-horse field of Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Dropping in class from the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap, Access Fee ($2.40) held a narrow lead heading into the stretch of Saturday's $50,000 Primonetta Stakes at Laurel Park, but settled for a dead heat after dueling to the wire with Cammy's Choice ($3). All Giving was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up.
Restless Soul ($7.60) unleashed a strong rally to wear down pacesetting You Lift Me Up as she captured the $75,000 Yerba Buena on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.
You Lift Me Up, allowed to gallop unchallenged through the early stages of the 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares, shook off a challenge by favored Caprice as the field rounded the final turn. She led by two lengths in the stretch, but Restless Soul, who settled well off the pace early, was rolling as she rallied three wide.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - After five previous chances that included second-place finishes in both the Grade 1 Donn and Grade 2 Gulfstream Park handicaps earlier in the meet, Finallymadeit finally made it into the Gulfstream Park winner's circle on Saturday. And he did so while leaving little doubt as to his superiority, drawing away to a convincing 8 1/4-length victory in the $100,000 Skip Away Handicap.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Dixie Chatter won his first stakes since July in Saturday's $150,000 Arcadia Handicap.
Unlike recent stakes, where he looked like a winner in early stretch and was caught, Dixie Chatter was moving best at the finish of the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap, run at a mile on turf.
Ridden by Tyler Baze, Dixie Chatter ($9.80) was timed in 1:34.12 and won by three-quarters of a length.
Battered, but not broken - not yet at least - Fairmount Park in downstate Illinois begins a 75-day race meet on Tuesday. The season starts with the black cloud of financial peril hanging overhead, but by meet's end, Fairmount and local horsemen hope things look brighter.
By sometime this summer, Fairmount and the other racetracks in Illinois could get an infusion of millions of dollars worth of casino revenue currently being held in an escrow fund while legal proceedings unfold. The emphasis, however, remains on "could."