INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Christophe Clement stable leads all trainers with four stakes wins at the Hollywood Park autumn meeting, including two over the weekend - Saturday's restricted $56,550 Cesario Stakes with Captive Melody and Sunday's Grade 3 Native Diver Handicap with Saint Stephen.
Captive Melody ($10.20) was making her stakes debut in the Cesario. She ran a mile on turf in 1:35.09, finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of La Mottie. Bosset finished third in the field nine 3-year-old fillies.
By MARY RAMPELLINI
Jockey Roman Chapa completed a sweep of the final two Thoroughbred stakes of the Zia Park meet on Sunday when he guided Tap Dancing Mauk to a 3 3/4-length win in the $208,800 Zia Park Distance Championship. On Saturday, he won the $157,600 Zia Park Derby on Saturday aboard More Than Regal.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Garrett Gomez completed a sweep of the graded stakes of the weekend at Hollywood Park with a patient ride on Saint Stephen in Sunday's $100,000 .
Gomez scored a victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup on Boboman. He won four races on Sunday.
Saint Stephen ($9.60) had a perfect trip in the Grade 3 Native Diver. Gomez kept him in fourth place for the first six furlongs, well behind the quick fractions of 23.15 and 46.53 seconds set by Flamethrowintexan.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Marsh Side, a 3-year-old Maryland shipper trained by Michael Dickinson, registered an easy victory Sunday in Woodbine's closing day feature, the $125,800 Valedictory Stakes.
Favored True Metropolitan was rank on the lead in the mile and a three-quarter marathon while setting a lively pace under Todd Kabel. Marsh Side raced seven lengths off the early lead before moving into contention heading into the far turn, then drew off in the stretch to prevail by three and three-quarter lengths.
More Than Regal picked up his fourth stakes win this year when he drove to a 2 1/2-length win over Guiding Hand in the $157,600 Zia Park Derby at Zia Park on Saturday. It was another length and a quarter back in third to Wait in Line.
More Than Regal ($2.60) settled in fourth early, as Guiding Hand led the field through an opening half-mile in 46.80 seconds. Guiding Hand continued to lead until the stretch, when he was overtaken by More Than Regal, who then went on to cover the mile and a sixteenth over a fast track in 1:47.20.
PHOENIX - The favorites had little trouble proving their dominance in Turf Paradise's Arizona Breeders Futurity divisions, one for colts and geldings and the other for fillies. Staten Island stalked the pace and edged away late to win the $58,014 filly division as the 4-5 favorite, while R Big Stuff dominated the $61,362 colt-and-gelding division, winning by nearly seven lengths as the 2-5 favorite.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Ending years of frustration, Boboman pulled an upset in Saturdays $250,000 , a race that marked the rare occasion of an older horse winning his stakes debut in a Grade 1.
Boboman ($20.40) rallied from fifth to win the Turf Cup by a length over 25-1 Runaway Dancer, finishing 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2:24.61. Owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Boboman benefited from a perfect trip.
NEW ORLEANS - Costa Rising took command on the backstretch and stayed on determinedly Saturday to outlast Mean Butterbean by a head in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic, one of seven Thoroughbred stakes on the day for Louisiana-breds.
Half Heaven was a good horse on turf for her first 18 races. On Polytrack, she is apparently in a completely different class.
Saturday at Turfway Park in the $50,000 My Charmer Stakes, Half Heaven recorded her second stakes victory in as many starts on the surface, defeating My Chickadee by a half-length. Stalking the pace in second early, she surged to a length lead in midstretch, and held on late under jockey Miguel Mena. She raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.95, paying $7.40 as the narrow favorite in the field of 10.
Despite proving to be a handful for jockey Julien Leparoux, Captive Melody won her first stakes in the restricted $56,550 Cesario Stakes at Hollywood Park on Saturday.
Captive Melody ($10.20) ran a mile on turf in 1:35.09, finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of La Mottie. Bosset finished third in the field nine 3-year-old fillies.