Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Marble Cliff dominates to remain unbeaten

Marble Cliff ($2.80) kept his perfect record intact with an impressive 7 3/4-length victory in the $50,000 H. B. Noonan Stakes at Beulah Park.

Breaking from post 5 in the field of six, jockey Luis Martinez Jr. kept Marble Cliff just to the outside of the pacesetting Key Low. Marble Cliff took over on the turn and widened his margin through the stretch under a hand ride. He completed six furlongs in 1:09.99.

Marble Cliff is now 3 for 3 for trainer Doug Cowans, winning by a combined margin of 26 1/4 lengths.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Legal Move impresses in Jacques Cartier

Legal Move ($7.90) established himself as Woodbine's top sprinter with a convincing score in the $165,300 Jacques Cartier Stakes.

Legal Move rallied wide from mid-pack to take the six-furlong sprint by 1 3/4 lengths over Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk. Sail From Seattle finished another head back in third, and Santana Strings came from last in the eight-horse field to end up fourth. Ballado Dancer set fast, wind-aided fractions before fading to sixth.

Since shipping up from Florida, Legal Move has won both of his starts at the meeting for trainer Mark Casse.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Dominguez caps three-win day on Go Go Shoot

Jockey Ramon Dominguez completed a three-win day by guiding Go Go Shoot ($2.80) to a one-length victory in the $72,750 Francis "Jock" LaBelle Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park. Dominguez has won the first two stakes of the meet that began April 19.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Napravnik times Stay Close's arrival perfectly

After riding the first six races at Delaware Park, where she went winless, Anna Napravnik had to hustle to make it to Pimlico in time for Saturday's $50,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes.

Napravnik also had to hustle to move Stay Close from far back in the pack to barely reach the wire first.

The 6-year-old Stay Close ($5.20) ran down 15-1 longshot Forty Crowns by a neck in deep stretch to win the one-mile Clark for the second straight year.

"I wasn't sure he was going to get there," said trainer Michael Zwiesler, referring to Stay Close's late rally.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Harlem Rocker remains perfect in Withers

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher's recent assault on North America's 3-year-old graded stakes continued Saturday at Aqueduct when Harlem Rocker blew past odds-on favorite J Be K inside the eighth pole to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Withers Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths.

J Be K, who set all the early fractions under Garrett Gomez, finished second by 7 3/4 lengths over Double or Nothing. Face the Cat was last.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Jockeys receive higher mount fee

STICKNEY, Ill. - Jockeys at Hawthorne succeeded in raising the fee paid to riders for merely participating in a race after intense negotiations here at Hawthorne on Friday, and racing went off without a hitch Saturday after negotiations between jockeys and horsemen caused a two-hour delay in starting Friday's card.

Sat, 04/26/2008 - 00:00

Keeneland's average handle down

Keeneland Race Course ended its 16-day spring meet Friday with daily average all-sources handle down 11 percent from the corresponding 2007 meet.

Although the estimated gross all-sources handle of $150.5 million was the second-highest in track history, behind only the $158.4 million handled last year, there was an additional day of racing this year at the Lexington, Ky., track.

Fri, 04/25/2008 - 00:00

Last pick six proves unhittable

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland concluded its 16-day spring meet Friday without a single winning favorite in any of the pick six races that closed out the program, as Dancing Forever surged to victory under Rene Douglas in the feature race, the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes.

Fri, 04/25/2008 - 00:00

Jockeys balk until they get pay raise

STICKNEY, Ill. - The first race on Friday's racing program at Hawthorne was delayed nearly two hours as jockeys, trying to raise the base mount fee paid to riders in Chicago, declined to participate. The day's first race, scheduled for 3 p.m. Central, eventually went off at about 4:55, but only after four of the seven horses left the paddock and went back to their barns, causing them to be scratched.

"We're going to do everything we can today to finish the races," said Jim Miller, Hawthorne's assistant general manager.

Fri, 04/25/2008 - 00:00

Sunland's average handle rises

Sunland Park closed out its 77-date mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses on Tuesday with a 5.5 percent increase in average daily handle, and attendance figures on par with the corresponding 79-date meet a year ago. Sunland, the New Mexico track and slots casino located near El Paso, Texas, opened its race meet on Dec. 12.