Secret Getaway had won stakes races on turf and on Woodbine's Polytrack this past summer, but it looks like there was a dirt horse waiting to come out.
Making his first two-turn start on dirt, Secret Getaway won the Tenacious Handicap on Saturday at Fair Grounds. The $60,000 pot couldn't match the six-figure purses Secret Getaway took down in Canada, but it had to give his connections hope that Secret Getaway, who is about to turn 4, could be competitive in richer races here later this season.
Oilgonewile, taking advantage of a turf course that has been speed-favoring of late, led throughout to post an authoritative 4 3/4-length decision over 2-1 favorite Tailbytherail in Saturday's $75,000 Live Oak Georgia Debutante Stakes at Calder.
The race was restricted to 2-year-old fillies who are progeny of stallions nominated to the Georgia breeding program.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Two dominant performances by juveniles at Aqueduct on Saturday left one camp heartened and another heartbroken.
Old Fashioned announced himself as a serious contender for next year's Kentucky Derby by utilizing his speed to roll to a 7 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 Remsen Stakes for juvenile colts. The win improved his record to 3 for 3 for owner Rick Porter and trainer Larry Jones, the same connections that finished second in the last two Kentucky Derbies.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One was very easy, the other very tough. In sweeping the twin Grade 2 stakes Saturday at Churchill Downs, jockey Calvin Borel urged Beethoven to win a three-horse photo in the Kentucky Jockey Club an hour after riding Rachel Alexandra to a romp in the Golden Rod.
By winning both closing-day features, Borel took three of the four Grade 2 stakes that ended the 26-day meet. He also won the Falls City Handicap on Thursday aboard Miss Isella.
MIAMI - Snow Cone, among the top 3-year-old turf horses here last season with trainer Marty Wolfson, was back on the track Saturday morning but this time sporting the saddle towel of trainer Joe Orseno.
Snow Cone worked an easy half-mile over the main track in 1:03.40 here Saturday in preparation for her appearance in next Saturday's Grade 3 My Charmer Stakes.
ALBANY, Calif. - Three-year-olds dominated the scratch-marred $73,500 Forty Niner Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Friday with Dakota Phone ($6.20), last to the quarter pole, roaring past pacesetting Gallon in the lane to win.
Dakota Phone did not get away well as he had his head turned as the gate opened for the 1 1/16-mile race. Three scratches left a field of four, and Dakota Phone ran fourth and last early. He was always in a good stalking position as jockey Frank Alvarado was content to sit back until the field turned for home before unleashing a strong kick.
Bob Elliston has never been one to cry poor or cry wolf. But when Maryland voters recently drew a major step closer to providing relief for their racing industry through alternative gaming, Elliston, the president of Turfway Park, couldn't help feeling like the walls of doom were closing in even tighter.
INGLEWOOD, Calif.-Hyperbaric was held out of the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita last month in favor of Friday's $400,000 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park. The schedule worked to perfection when the 5-year-old gelding led throughout the Citation, recording the first Grade 1 victory of his career.
The hype about Habaya was correct.
Friday at Hollywood Park, Habaya won her first stakes in the $113,800 Miesque Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.
Ridden by Richard Migliore, Habaya closed from fifth on the backstretch to win the Grade 3 race by three-quarters of a length over Internallyflawless, who rallied through the final furlong. Eloquently, making her U.S. debut, finished a nose behind for third in the field of 12, closing well on the rail.
Habaya ($6.80) ran a mile on turf in 1:37.07. It was only in the final furlong that she drew away from her rivals.
Classic Campaign, racing on dirt for the first time in four years, handled a sloppy track and came home first as the longest shot in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Handicap at the Fair Grounds.
Brian Hernandez Jr., riding in place of Patrick Valenzuela, guided the Bill Mott-trained Classic Campaign from last to first, taking over in the stretch to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths over the favored Wise River.
The race, originally scheduled for dirt, was reduced to a field of four as three horses scratched when it was moved to the main track.