OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Rite Moment transferred her stellar inner track form to Aqueduct's main track, rolling to a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday's Grade 2, $158,100 Bed o' Roses Handicap at Aqueduct.
Lady Marlboro rallied from well off the pace to be second, 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Cowgirls Don't Cry. Golden Dawn, the even-money favorite, finished fourth, and was followed by Sutra and You Asked.
STICKNEY, Ill. - The second graded stakes of the Hawthorne meet unfolded much like the first one: Horse A sent for lead, Horse A, makes lead, Horse A stays on lead.
Two Saturdays ago, it was Recapturetheglory winning the Illinois Derby on the engine. Saturday, in the Grade 3, $200,000 Bill Hartack Memorial, Ryan's for Real sprang to the lead from the outside post in a five-horse field. Challenged early, middle, and late by favored Fairbanks, Ryan's for Real fought back while racing along the fence, and eventually won the Hartack by 3 1/2 lengths.
Icabad Crane bounced back from his first career defeat with a gritty head victory over a stubborn Mint Lane in Saturday's $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. It was three lengths back to Deputyville.
The Tesio is Pimlico's prep for the May 17 Preakness Stakes, but it remains to be seen if Icabad Crane, a New York-bred son of Jump Start, will point to the $1 million second leg of the Triple Crown, also run at Pimlico.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jade's Revenge reaffirmed a fondness for the Keeneland Polytrack when drawing away Saturday to a 3 3/4-length triumph in the $109,900 Fort Harrod, one of two stakes on the Coolmore Lexington undercard.
With Edgar Prado aboard, Jade's Revenge put away longshot Poison Pill after stalking the early pace, then easily pulled clear from the field on the final turn of the 1 5/8-mile race to put the issue to rest. The victory was the second in as many starts on the Keeneland Polytrack for Jade's Revenge, who last spring won the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes.
Hadavision came back from a long fall-winter break to win her stakes debut, taking the $100,300 Peach Blossom by a half-length.
Ridden by Ramon Dominguez, Hadavision sat just off the early pace in the six-furlong Peach Blossom, then split horses in upper stretch and ran down Big Easy for the victory. True Intentions was another 1 1/4 lengths back, third in the field of six 3-year-old fillies.
Rumbling Cloud ($19.80) held off Kentucky shipper Carson's Legacy, the 1-2 favorite, to land his first stakes in the $151,300 Woodstock.
Rumbling Cloud set slow fractions under Emma Wilson, as Carson's Legacy assumed a stalking position in the six-furlong event.
Carson's Legacy drew even with Rumbling Cloud at the eighth pole, but Rumbling Cloud edged away in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length, in a time of 1:11.46.
"I handicapped the race, and it looked like we might be the lone speed," said Wilson. "He showed tremendous tenacity down the lane."
Peach Flambe won the final stakes of the 2008 Gulfstream Park meeting, registering a popular 2 1/4-length victory over Cat Can Do in Saturday's $75,000 Cicada Stakes for fillies and mares.
Peach Flambe, a 5-year-old daughter of Flying Chevron, stalked the early pace of Silversider, moved to command on the far turn, resisted a mild bid from Prop Me Up nearing the quarter pole, and after drawing well clear withstood a belated rally from Cat Can Do. Lady Byar finished another 2 1/2 lengths farther back in third.
Wagering and attendance at Laurel Park's winter meet this year plummeted compared with last year, with average all-sources handle down 20 percent and total attendance declining 31.4 percent.
Handle figures for Maryland's racetracks have been static or in decline for more than a decade.