The German runner Lauro stole the $250,750 Sky Classic Stakes on the front end Saturday at Woodbine.
Lauro ($20.60) established slow fractions over yielding turf in the 1 3/8-mile route. He had a length lead with an eighth left and held off Seaside Retreat and favored Spice Route to prevail by a half-length over Seaside Retreat. Windward Islands and Royal Challenger completed the order of finish in the Grade 2 race, which was run in 2:18.81.
Tyler Pizarro rode Lauro for trainer Andreas Wohler.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Taking full advantage of his inside post and a crafty ride from veteran Jean-Luc Samyn, Formal Decree stole Saturday's 49th running of the $111,400 Knickerbocker Handicap in broad daylight on a blustery afternoon at Belmont Park.
Atoned, often close but winless in his last 10 starts since winning the Continental Mile in August 2007, finally caught some racing luck when he nipped Ready Set by a nose in Friday night's Grade 3, $200,000 Pegasus Stakes at the Meadowlands.
In seven starts earlier this season, Atoned ($17.80) was narrowly beaten three times, finishing a head behind Truth Rules in the Long Branch at Monmouth, a neck behind Cool Coal Man in the Spend a Buck, and beaten a neck by Big Truck in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby.
Roshani can be forgiven for her seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland last month.
The winner of that race, Forever Together, won Friday's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita. Later that afternoon, Roshani won the $250,000 Las Palmas Handicap, scoring her second stakes win of the year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There are a multitude of subtle differences in the Churchill Downs spring and fall meets, not the least of which is the preponderance of 2-year-old racing in the fall.
The Churchill Downs racing secretary, Ben Huffman, estimated that whereas only three or four races for 2-year-olds are conducted weekly in the spring, "we average at least 10, probably more," per week in the fall. The most overt signs of 2-year-olds being a primary focus will arise twice at the meet, on the Nov. 1 and 29 cards, when the Stars of Tomorrow programs are renewed.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - The racing season at Fort Erie concludes Tuesday, and the question on everyone's mind is whether live racing at this 111-year-old border oval is in jeopardy. There is still room for optimism, but a concerted effort by a number of interested players is needed for racing to return next year.
Management has not applied for racing dates for next year, but that option is still available. Fort Erie opened its gates in 1897 and has managed to keep operating through a number of economic downturns and now faces one more challenge.
The Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita ends on Sunday with a $66,214 carryover in the pick six and a $53,932 carryover in the super high five. Both bets will have mandatory payoffs on the final day of the meeting.
Neither bet was hit on Thursday. Because the Friday and Saturday program were Breeders' Cup events, the carryovers were not in effect, postponed until the next non-Breeders' Cup program.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When it comes to racetrack topics, the man on the street usually doesn't care to get into the whats and whys of something as complex and frustrating as the account-wagering controversy that has hung over Churchill Downs and its horsemen for the last six months.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A win by Almost Time or El Sinaloense in the $100,000 Ascot Graduation at Hastings on Sunday would likely wrap up local juvenile honors.
Gotta Find Bubba, meanwhile, hasn't done enough to be voted the top 2-year-old colt or gelding in British Columbia - but he has a good chance of winning the Ascot Graduation.
Trained by Steve Henson, Gotta Find Bubba is coming off of a second-place finish behind Almost Time in the $106,000 Jack Diamond Futurity, and his breeding points to him as the most likely winner of the 1 1/16-mile Ascot.