FORT ERIE, Ontario Not Bourbon showed plenty of talent and desire when winning the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial by a neck and the 1 1/4-mile Queens Plate by a head at Woodbine in his last two starts.
Now, Not Bourbon will be taking his show on the road as he continues his Canadian Triple Crown quest here in Sundays $500,000 Prince of Wales, the showpiece of the Fort Erie meeting.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The respect issue has been solved for Tres Borrachos.
After going off at long odds in two important stakes in the spring, Tres Borrachos pulled an upset in Saturday's $355,495 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park, rallying on the rail in the final furlong to beat three rivals. Two Step Salsa, the winner of two Grade 3 stakes earlier at this meeting, finished second, a head in front of Colonel John, the 4-5 favorite who was making his first start since finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby on May 3.
The Niagara Queen ($12.70) benefited from a very slow pace to capture the Grade 2, $336,300 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine.
The Niagara Queen pressed an opening quarter in 25.94 seconds before setting middle fractions of 50.15 and 1:14.08 over a course labeled good in the nine-furlong event.
Sprung and favored Quiet Jungle both loomed into contention exiting the turn, but The Niagara Queen held them off and prevailed by 1 1/2 lengths, in a time of 1:50.01. Sprung finished second by a neck over Quiet Jungle in the seven-horse field of fillies and mares.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Stream Cat returned from an eight-month layoff looking better than ever, unleashing a powerful rally to win the Arlington Handicap by 3 3/4 lengths over heavily favored Cosmonaut.
Making his first start for trainer Rusty Arnold, Stream Cat gave jockey James Graham one of the biggest victories of his career, and marked himself as a possible contender in next month's Arlington Million.
Breaking slowly and growing rank behind horses in the $50,000 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park, Closeout appeared an unlikely winner in the early stages of the race. But once the field exited the final turn and entered the stretch, there was little doubt of her superiority.
Angled to the outside by John McKee for running room, she easily blew past longshot front-runner Magical Tune and pulled clear to 3 1/4-length victory. She raced 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:42.09, paying $5.20 as the favorite in the field of 10 3-year-old fillies.
Debbie Sue, returning on just two weeks' rest off a win in a high-priced optional claiming race, rallied from far back to win the $60,000 Brookmeade for Virginia-bred fillies and mares at Colonial Downs.
Sent off at 6-5 under Malcolm Franklin, Debbie Sue was seventh in the field of eight on the backstretch, advanced to third entering the stretch, then split rivals and won going away by 4 1/2 lengths.
The undefeated Tin Cup Chalice stretched his win streak to six, capturing the $159,600 New York Derby for 3-year-old New York-breds on Saturday at Finger Lakers by 1 1/2 lengths over a dogged Almighty Silver.
The victory, combined with a win in the Mike Lee at Belmont in June, gives Tin Cup Chalice the first two legs of the Big Apple Triple. The final leg of the series, which is restricted 3-year-old New York-breds, is the Albany Stakes at Saratoga on Aug.o20. There is a $250,000 bonus for sweeping the series, which began in 1999 and has never been won.
STANTON, Del. - One way or another, trainer Larry Jones knew he was going to win the Delaware Oaks.
Jones had jockey Mario Pino put 29-1 longshot Maren's Meadow on the lead, while Gabriel Saez sat patiently in third with 1-5 favorite Proud Spell.
"I liked my spot with either horse," said Jones. "I just didn't know which one was going to win."
Truth Rules extended his winning streak to three with a narrow upset of 9-5 favorite Atoned in the $150,000 Long Branch Stakes for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park on Saturday.
The Long Branch is the prep for the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 3. The first two finishers in the Long Branch are usually extended invitations to Monmouth's premier event. This time there was little separating the top two - only a head.
MIAMI - Benny the Bull continued to prove he's a road warrior while solidifying his position atop the nation's sprint division with a convincing two-length victory over local longshot How's Your Halo in Saturday's $400,000 Smile Handicap at Calder. The Grade 2 Smile highlighted Calder's marquee event, the Summit of Speed, which included three other graded stakes topped by the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap.