Rockella ($20.60) made an explosive move into the stretch as she scored an easy victory Monday in the $75,000 Palo Alto Stakes at Bay Meadows.
One of three Jerry Hollendorfer-trained runners in the field, Rockella settled in off the pace after bumping with stablemate Forest Huntress at the start of the 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-old fillies. She slipped farther behind down the backstretch as Forest Huntress cut out an honest pace.
Elite Squadron survived a speed duel to win the $100,000 Tom Ridge Labor Day Stakes at Presque Isle Downs on Monday. Elite Squadron and jockey Dana Whitney dueled with Natural Speed through a quarter-mile in 22.36 seconds and a half in 45.57 in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. Elite Squadron shook off Natural Speed in midstretch and held off favored Cherokee Country to win by a half-length. Front Court closed for third. Elite Squadron, a son of Officer, returned $12.20 and ran the six furlongs over the new Tapeta surface in 1.10.69.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Monday's yearling sales stakes brought plenty of fresh blood to the stakes winner's circle here at Woodbine.
The winners of five of the six $125,000 stakes on the program were recording their first stakes victory, and the trainers of those five were recording their first stakes score of the meeting.
In the case of Albert Schembri, who sent out Simple Sister to win the seven-furlong Muskoka for 2-year-old fillies, the stakes win was not just his first of the meeting but the first of a training career that began in 1996.
Costa Rising trumped the Beyer Speed Figure of 114 he earned in last month's $200,000 Evangeline Mile on Monday night, when he was given a 117 for a 17 1/2-length romp in a $55,000 allowance race on the closing night card at his home track of Evangeline Downs.
The number is tied for the year's second-highest Beyer by a horse at a mile or more, behind the 119 given to Lawyer Ron for his romp Saturday in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga. Lawyer Ron also has earned a 117 this year, for his win in the Grade 1 Whitney.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - There may be some nice 2-year-old fillies showing up at Arlington Park on Saturday for the Arlington-Washington Lassie, but leading trainer Wayne Catalano likes the hand he's holding for the race.
Dreaming of Liz, who came alive with a blowout maiden win after a modest career debut, continues to train like a stakes horse, and for the second straight year, Catalano and owner-breeder Frank Calabrese might have a horse worthy of Breeders' Cup consideration into the fall.
DEL MAR, Calif. -- There has been no rain this summer at Del Mar, but on Wednesday, it's the perfect storm. No one hit the pick six on Monday, the second straight day it was missed, which yielded a gigantic carryover of nearly $1 million $993,898 for Wednesday's closing-day card.
DEL MAR, Calif. -- The victory by Tashas Miracle in last months Sorrento Stakes would have made her the likely favorite in the Grade 1, $250,000 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies on Monday, but she was scratched after taking ill over the weekend. That turned out to be fortuitous for Set Play, who finished second in the Sorrento but saved her coming-out party for the Debutante, which she won by two lengths over favored Spring Awakening before a Labor Day crowd of 17,930.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Virtuoso performances by Street Sense, Lawyer Ron, Bill Mott and Mother Nature punctuated a stellar Saratoga meeting that came to an end on Monday.
Buoyed by near-perfect weather all summer - with the exception of Travers Day - Saratoga set an all-time ontrack handle record while enjoying its second-strongest overall handle in the track's 139-year history. Saratoga ran a record 347 races this year, compared with 336 last year when one day was canceled because of extreme heat.
FLORENCE, Ky. - The place that started this whole synthetic track phenomenon has become an old hand. It was two years ago that Turfway Park began using Polytrack as its primary racing surface, becoming the first in a revolution that continues to substantially alter the landscape of North American racing.
RUIDOSO, N.M. - Heartswideopen gave trainer Carl Draper his second All American Futurity win in four years with a late-charging neck victory in the Grade 1, $2 million futurity for Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs on Monday.
Under jockey Oscar Hernandez, Heartswideopen, the 9-10 favorite, broke outward from the outside post position in the eight-horse field and raced near the outside rail. When she drifted in approaching the grandstand, Hernandez switched sticks to his left hand and Heartswideopen got up to win in 20.997 seconds for the 440 yards.