ARCADIA, Calif. - The second act of Cowboy Cal's career is getting more intriguing by the month.
Since being given a five-month break following a ninth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby last year, Cowboy Cal has won three stakes in four starts since October. He won his second consecutive stakes of the current Santa Anita meeting in Saturday's $250,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds.
The victory confirmed Cowboy Cal's status as a contender for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It was the first start of the year for Pioneerof the Nile, a race he did not need to win, and he did not have the best of trips. None of it mattered. In a performance that stamped him as a one of the elite contenders for the Kentucky Derby, Pioneerof the Nile closed furiously to take the Grade 2, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday at Santa Anita.
NEW ORLEANS - War Echo, sister of Pyro, has laid her own claim on Fair Grounds history, winning Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Silverbulletday with a strong closing move.
War Echo, piloted by Shaun Bridgmohan, ran down fellow Steve Asmussen trainee Four Gifts in the stretch, pulling away to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
It was another 7 1/4 lengths back to the favorite, Just Jenda, who tired in the stretch after failing to switch leads.
War Echo went 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.20 and paid $11.20 to win.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Stardom Bound picked up in 2009 right where she left off in 2008 by scoring an impressive win in the Grade 1, $300,000 Las Virgenes Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, but now the stakes will get far more intriguing.
Immediately following the race, Michael Iavarone, the co-president of the IEAH Stable partnership that now owns Stardom Bound, said she would make her next start against males in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, which is a prep to the Kentucky Derby on May 2.
NEW ORLEANS - Diamond Tycoon ran his record to a perfect 3 for 3 over the Fair Grounds turf as he used a powerful closing kick to win the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Handicap, one of six stakes on the Saturday card.
Five lengths back after incredibly slow fractions, Julien Leparoux took Diamond Tycoon very wide into the lane and asked for his fastest gear. Diamond Tycoon responded, going the last furlong in 11.57 seconds and prevailing by 1 1/2 lengths.
Jockey Jeremy Rose continued his winning streak in the $50,000 Marshua Stakes on Saturday, guiding Strut the Canary to victory by a head over Huge in the six-furlong sprint for for 3-year-old fillies.
Rose, who won the last two runnings of the race with Laila's Punch and Throbbin' Heart, brought Strut the Canary three wide nearing the quarter pole and took command at the top of the stretch, opening up to a three-length lead.
Hypocrite bid four wide leaving the turn, then drew off under brisk handling through the final furlong to post a 3 1/4-length victory in the 19th running of the $75,000 Super Stakes before a crowd of 4,035 at Tampa Bay Downs.
Ridden by Manoel Cruz, Hyprocrite ($7.60) covered the seven furlongs in a very quick 1:22.84 - less than a second off the track record of 1:22.28 - while making his first start of 2009.
Parade Clown was a well-beaten second behind Music City in an allowance prep, but when the $50,000 WEBN Stakes was run Saturday at Turfway Park, the proverbial tables were turned, with Parade Clown emerging on top.
Music City broke sharply to set the pace in the one-mile WEBN, and passing the three-furlong pole, he was pulling away from his closest pursuer, Parade Clown. But jockey Bill Troilo still had something left with Parade Clown, and they re-rallied to overtake the front-runner inside the eighth pole and pull away to a 2 3/4-length triumph.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Vanquisher parlayed his sharp current form and a fast pace into the first stakes victory of his career, a last-to-first half-length triumph over 7-5 favorite Smooth Air in Saturday's $75,000 Tallahasee Stakes at Gulfstream.