LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Flashy Bull powered to the lead at the top of the stretch, then was all out in the final yards to barely hold off a late rush by Magna Graduate when scoring a head victory Saturday in the $829,500 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Ridden by Robby Albarado and based in New York with trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, Flashy Bull was not confirmed as a starter for the Grade 1 Stephen Foster until Wednesday, the day entries were taken.
MIAMI - Mach Ride stamped himself a force to be reckoned with three weeks down the road in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap after registering a 7 1/2-length victory over How's Your Halo in Saturday's $50,000 Champali Stakes at Calder.
The six-furlong Champali was one of four overnight stakes on the Saturday card, each of which could serve as local preps for the $2 million Summit of Speed card on July 7.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Take D' Tour successfully defended her Grade 1 Ogden Phipps title on Saturday at Belmont Park, winning a speed duel with Teammate early, then holding off a late charge from Ginger Punch to win the $300,000 race by a neck.
Ginger Punch, whose late rally fell just short, finished second by 8 1/4 lengths over Promenade Girl. Miss Shop, Bushfire, and Teammate completed the order of finish.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Karen's Caper broke the course record in the Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes for fillies and mares Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The 5-year-old ran 1 1/16 miles on the firm course in 1:39.48 in her season debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.
In Return set the old mark of 1:39.91 last summer.
It was a picture-perfect trip for Karen's Caper ($4.20) and Brice Blanc, who flew in from California for the mount.
They had the outside post in the seven-horse field, and Blanc guided Karen's Caper into fourth in the early stages.
Another Audible puts her four-race win streak on the line when she faces males for a second straight time in the $15,000 President's Cup Stakes at six furlongs.
Another Audible has established herself as the top sprinter in the state for trainer Milton Gaede. She has been nothing short of incredible in winning five of her six races this year by a combined 47 lengths. In her last start, the Speed Stakes here going 4 1/2 furlongs, she drew off for an 8 1/2-length win while maintaining a streak of never having been headed after an eighth.
There is one certainty about the $25,000 Molly Brown Handicap at Arapahoe Park: the six-furlong race for fillies and mares will be won by one of two trainers, Jon Arnett or Kenneth Gleason.
Arnett and Gleason account for all six starters in the field, training three entrants apiece. The horses will all race as separate interests, and it appears Gleason might have the upper hand with Lady Legend, who has won her last four starts in a streak dating back to September.
The Finger Lakes-based mares Hoosick Falls, Coney Island Baby, and Mighty Annie R. are a collective 26 for 46 at their home track. but all three may be outsiders when they face a trio of faster female sprinters from downstate in Sundays $50,000 Susan B. Anthony Handicap.
Towering Escape, Waytotheleft, and Her Royal Nibs all appear a good fit in the six-furlong stakes restricted to New York-bred fillies and mares.
The purse for this year's Grade 3 Longacres Mile on Aug. 19 was increased from $250,000 to $300,000 before this meeting began. This week, owing to a sponsorship agreement with Television Games Network, the Mile purse is being boosted again to $400,000.
The $400,000 purse for the Longacres Mile presented by TVG is the largest ever offered in the Northwest, and it is designed to elevate the status of the Mile to a major prep for the newly created $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Oct. 26.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - When most fathers and sons compete, it's on a recreational level. But not Tony McNeil and his son Bryan McNeil. They are both jockeys, and they have been riding against each other on a regular basis this meet at Lone Star Park.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer John Snow is looking for a good effort from Alexandersrun in a no-condition allowance race at Hastings on Sunday.
Alexandersrun is coming off a third-place finish behind Forceful Intention and Spaghetti Mouse in the John Longden 6000, and Snow is hopeful that the easier spot will help Alexandersrun win for the first time since he captured the Emerald Downs Breeders' Cup Derby in 2005.
