Nicki Knew ($17.30) captured her first stakes Sunday at Woodbine in the $250,800 Bison City, the second leg of the Canadian triple tiara.
Nicki Knew, with Jim McAleney aboard, commenced a five-wide rally on the far turn and overtook Authenicat at the sixteenth pole before edging away to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:44.82 for the 1 1/16 miles. Authenicat finished a half-length ahead of her stablemate Victory Romance in second.
Bold Union established herself as one of the early stars in the juvenile filly division, with an ultra-impressive 9 3/4-length victory in Sunday's $109,500 Astoria Stakes at Belmont Park.
Meanwhile, Mr Mistoffelees could not overcome a stumbling start and finished last behind Dagnabit in the $107,300 Tremont Stakes for 2-year-old males on the same card.
Juliet's Spirit ($17.70) went right to the lead and never looked back in Monday's $151,200 My Dear Stakes at Woodbine, winning the five-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies by 2 1/2 lengths under Jim McAleney.
Steve Asmussen-trained runners finished first, second, and fourth in the My Dear. A Day for Dancing was a stalking second, Georgia Song, a maiden trained by Josie Carroll, closed for third, and Fanci Candi wound up fourth in the eight-horse field.
All 41 horses trained by Bruce Levine at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., tested negative for blood-doping drugs, the executive director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, Frank Zanzuccki, said Monday.
The results were reported to the racing commission six days after officials for the regulatory body drew blood from Levine's horses at Monmouth as part of an 8-month-old out-of-competition testing program. Zanzuccki stressed that Levine - who has posted a 52 percent win percentage this year at Monmouth - was selected at random.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - At the time, his loss by inches in the 2007 Stars and Stripes Handicap seemed just like a tough beat for the venerable grass horse Cloudy's Knight, but in retrospect, it seems surprising that Cloudy's Knight was beaten at all. By year's end, Cloudy's Knight had evolved into one of the better 12-furlong horses in North America, capping his campaign with a victory in the Grade 1 Canadian International.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Watching from his New York home, Bobby Frankel was holding his breath when Mast Track ran through the stretch en route to a victory in Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup.
"I didn't know about the distance," he said.
Making his first start over 1 1/4 miles, Mast Track carried his speed throughout the Grade 1 Gold Cup. The upset win at 10-1 gave Frankel his third Gold Cup, preceded by Marquetry in 1991 and Aptitude in 2001.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario Main Executive should be dangerous as the lone speed in Wednesdays featured sixth race, a six-furlong allowance that serves as the prep for the July 20 Bold Venture Stakes.
Main Executive, trained by Radlie Loney for Bruno Brother Farm, has been among Woodbines leading sprinters during the past several years. He had a subpar campaign in 2007, but managed to win the Aug. 5 Shepperton Stakes over his venerable older brother and stablemate Cool Selection.
Leah's Secret ends long drought
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Since Leah's Secret won the Anne Arundel Stakes on Nov. 25, 2006, at Laurel Park, she hasn't been able to find the winner's circle, but jockey Rene Douglas led her there late Saturday afternoon.
Getting an ideal trip under Douglas, Leah's Secret ($5) pushed past Tequilas Dayjur in the final furlong and won the $150,000 Chicago Handicap by three-quarters of a length at windy Arlington Park.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Saratoga's Magic ($8.20), part of a three-horse uncoupled entry for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, controlled the pace under Roberto Gonzalez and held off favored stablemate Putmeinyourwill by a neck to win the $51,250 Alamedan Handicap at the Alameda Country Fair on Saturday.
Saratoga's Magic stole the race, going the opening quarter of the 1 1/16-mile stakes in 25.02 seconds and the half mile in 49.25 while maintaining a one-length lead over My Creed, who normally sits off the pace.