SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Teuflesberg lost the battle in Saturday's $82,250 Glow Stakes, but the effort may have set him up perfectly for the war that will be the Grade 1 King's Bishop here on Aug. 25.
Running hard up on the pace all the way, Teuflesberg was overtaken by Pays to Dream ($20.20) in deep stretch of the Glow, losing by 1 1/2 lengths. He finished second, a neck ahead of longshot Biggerbadderbetter.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Dream Rush left no doubt as to who is the best 3-year-old filly sprinter in the country with a gate-to-wire, two-length score in Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga.
Taking command soon after the start under Eibar Coa, Dream Rush rattled off fractions of 22.26 seconds, 44.59, 1:08.94 and covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.42 over a fast track while being kept to the task under Coa. She returned $4.50 as the favorite.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Price Tag, winner of the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes in November, was scratched from Saturday's $400,000 John Mabee Handicap after a bout with colic earlier in the week, according to Humberto Ascanio, trainer Bobby Frankel's assistant.
Ascanio said Saturday morning that Price Tag began suffering from colic late Thursday and was treated that evening with medications that prevented her from starting Saturday. Ascanio said the illness subsided Friday.
More than eight months of frustration ended for the connections of Zanjero on Saturday after the multiple graded stakes-placed 3-year-old finally won a big one, outgaming 20-1 longshot Bwana Bull to win Mountaineer Park's $750,000 West Virginia Derby by a nose.
Zanjero, a Kentucky-bred son of Cherokee Run, was stakes-placed in five graded races dating back to his second-place finish behind Nobiz Like Shobiz in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes in his 2-year-old finale.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Stormello has been scratched from Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational after developing colic.
The winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity last December arrived at Monmouth Park from California late Friday afternoon and showed signs of distress later that evening.
He was vanned to the Midlantic Equine Clinic in Ringoes, N.J., for treatment.
Trainer Andrew Leggio Jr. has just started to map out a fall campaign for the promising 3-year-old stakes winner Atlanta Highway. He said the major goal will be the Grade 2, $300,000 Raven Run, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland on Oct. 20.
"That's what we're hoping to shoot at," said Leggio, who trains the Louisiana Downs-based Atlanta Highway for Dede McGehee.
At the age of 15, the gelding Hermosilla is more than half as old as his 29-year-old owner and trainer, Shaun Story. And together, the two have made quite a bit of noise at Wyoming Downs in Evanston, Wyo., where Hermosilla will run in the seventh race on Sunday.
AUBURN, Wash. - Call on Carson and Wild Cycle have divided the spoils between them in the 3-year-old division at this meeting, with Call on Carson winning the six-furlong Auburn and the 6 1/2-furlong Pepsi Cola before running a troubled second to Wild Cycle in the one-mile Tacoma on July 1.
Both horses continue to thrive, according to their connections, and there is no apparent reason to suspect that they won't be ready to put forth their best efforts in Sunday's $65,000 Seattle Slew Handicap at 1o1/16 miles.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Bob Baffert was hoping to spend a couple of leisurely days in Saratoga. He was going to attend Monday's Hall of Fame ceremonies at which his first Kentucky Derby winner, Silver Charm, is being inducted. Then he would attend the sales hoping to find another one.
But Baffert's plans changed somewhat when his main client, Ahmed Zayat, abruptly decided to ship all his horses out of Del Mar, complaining about the Polytrack. While Baffert is still coming to Saratoga, he will be working more than he planned.
Arlington Park officials said Friday they are expecting a field of as many as 11 horses, including defending champion The Tin Man, for the Arlington Million, the highlight of the International Festival of Racing next Saturday, Aug. 11.
The 1 1/4-mile Million is one of three Grade 1 turf races to be run at the Arlington Heights, Ill., track. The others are the $750,000 Beverly D., for which eight fillies and mares are likely to enter, and the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes, which is expected to get nine 3-year-olds.
