SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It has taken longer than expected to get Hellvelyn to the races, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is eager to find out if it was worth the wait when Hellvelyn makes his U.S. debut in Monday's $80,000 Troy Stakes.
The Troy, carded for 5 1/2 furlongs on the outer turf course, is the featured event on a 10-race card that brings to a close the first half of the meet. The Troy goes as race 4.
Letties Relic, 9-2 under Eduardo Nunez, rallied from far back to upset 1-2 favorite Blue Pepsi Lodge by a length in the $55,000 Hooting Star at Calder.
Blue Pepsi Lodge drew well clear going around the turn of the five-furlong race, had a four- or five-length lead in the stretch, and caved in when the winner came calling.
Mr. Silver tracked the pace four wide into the stretch and faded, finishing third, another 4 3/4 lengths behind.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario Sugar Bay ($9.60) notched her first stakes victory in Saturdays $182,845 Duchess, a seven-furlong test for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
Sugar Bay saved ground on the turn before Chantal Sutherland angled her wide at the eighth pole, and they closed strongly in the final furlong to nose out Verdana Bold for the victory.
I was lucky to sneak through on the rail when I did, said Sutherland, who won five races on the card. I knew I had some momentum. It just all worked out. The two times Ive ridden her, shes given me great [late] run.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Bobby Frankel believes with a little luck Ariege could have won either or both of her turf starts in Southern California. Ariege needed no luck, just her superior skill to win Saturday's $102,500 Madame Jumel on Saratoga's yielding turf.
Making her first start since April 10, Ariege launched a four-wide bid around the turn and then rallied down the center of the inner turf course to win the Madame Jumel by 2 1/4 lengths over Closeout. It was three-quarters of a length to Lickety Lemon.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Rene Douglas reached the quarter pole in the Secretariat Stakes, closing in on the leader with a handful of horse named Winchester underneath him. And he had a fitting thought at that moment.
"I didn't want to move too early," Douglas said. "I took a couple looks back, didn't see anybody, and I said, 'Let's go.' It was going to take Secretariat to catch me."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Like everybody else up here, trainer James Bond hopes the rain has subsided for a while. Bond would like to run his 5-year-old mare Hostess against the boys in Saturday's Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational, but only if the Saratoga turf course is firm.
"If the course is ready, she's ready," Bond said Saturday after Hostess worked five furlongs in 1:00.88 in company with Believeinmenow over the Oklahoma training track.
DEL MAR, Calif. In the first half of the year, Bahama Mama was campaigned exclusively in turf sprints. For the second half of 2008, the game plan has changed. She is running in two-turn races, and seems to be thriving.
After finishing a game third in the restricted Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar on July 19, Bahama Mama is the likely favorite in an optional claimer over a mile on turf in Mondays second race at Del Mar.
Since winning a statebred stakes last year as a 2-year-old, Considering has struggled to get on track. Considering should get her confidence back when she meets six other Massachusetts-bred 3-year-old fillies in Sunday's $50,000 Louise Kimball Stakes at Suffolk Downs.
Reversing a trend this year of racetrack purse cuts, Ellis Park is raising purses for overnight races 5 percent, effective Wednesday and continuing through the end of its meet Sept. 1.
In a press release, the track's owner, Ron Geary, attributed the increase in part to the track's new agreement with the Kentucky Benevolent and Protective Association regarding its split of advance deposit wagering. That agreement calls for 6 percent of that wagering to go into purse funds.
The California Horse Racing Board will enact severe penalties for excessive use of four anabolic steroids beginning with races run on Sept. 4, the board announced on Thursday.
The four anabolic steroids - boldenone, nandrolone, stanozolol and testosterone - the only steroids allowed to appear in postrace tests, will be allowed to appear at minute levels. The four steroids have been reclassified as Class 3 violations, from Class 4. Under the new rules, excessive levels of those steroids will result in the loss of a purse and a possible fine and/or suspension for a trainer.