Far West, who posted a 100 Beyer Speed Figure winning his maiden in only his second career start at 2, makes his much-anticipated 3-year-old debut when he faces five rivals in the $26,000 allowance feature at Calder.
Far West, a son of Way West, finished a tiring third when launching his career at Monmouth Park in September 2005 before shipping to Calder to graduate by 7 1/4 lengths on Dec. 2. His final time of 58.40 seconds for five furlongs earned him the triple-digit Beyer.
Dr. Meatball, Mr. Meso, and Unomes Flash should vie for favoritism in the featured ninth race at Lone Star Park. A well-matched field of seven has been entered in the optional claiming race, which will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Dr. Meatball is adding blinkers following a fifth-place finish in an optional claimer here May 10. He shows a series of half-mile works for his first start since then, among them a bullet half-mile move in 47.20 seconds on May 30.
After putting together a productive Oaklawn Park meet in the first three starts of his career, Run Lucky has found little good luck in his two most recent outings. "Ducked out, bumped start," reads his running-line comment for the eighth race on May 20 at Churchill Downs; "Slow start, shut off," reads the one from the 10th race June 9 at Churchill.
But Run Lucky might not need Lady Luck fully backing his number to win the second race at Arlington Park. He looks superior enough to his five rivals that even a troubled trip might get the job done.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Bushfire staked her claim to leadership of the 3-year-old filly division Saturday with a solid victory in the Grade 1, $250,000 at Belmont Park.
Content to sit off a rushed-to-the-lead Teammate after an opening quarter-mile, Bushfire took control of the race at the five-sixteenths pole, and galloped home to an easier-than-it-looked three-quarter-length victory over Pine Island. It was a half-length back to Ready to Please in third.
Lemons Forever, the Kentucky Oaks winner and 5-2 Mother Goose favorite, finished fourth.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Proving his victory in the Pimlico Special was not a one-shot deal, Invasor dominated a modest field of older horses in Saturday's Grade 1, $400,000 at Belmont Park.
Receiving a perfect stalking trip under 18-year-old journeyman jockey Fernando Jara, Invasor took command turning for home then kicked clear from Wild Desert, who tried to make a race of it in the stretch. Invasor, an Argentine-bred son of Candy Stripes, won by 4 1/4 lengths while running 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.23 over a fast track. He returned $4.50 as the favorite.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Miesque's Approval further entrenched himself in the top echelon of North American turf horses Saturday when he captured the $269,500 at Churchill Downs.
Adeptly ridden by Eddie Castro, Miesque's Approval finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of late-running Free Thinking, paying $3.20 as a heavy favorite in a field of seven older horses.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Funny Cide, the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner, won his first start north of the border Saturday at Woodbine in the $200,800 .
Jockey Richard Migliore let Funny Cide roll from the start, and they set fractions of 23.62 seconds, 47.14, and 1:11.48. Summer Book, Cryptograph, and Arch Hall all stalked the pace, and Cryptograph joined Funny Cide up front on the far turn.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Kingship won the by a nose, but the horse to follow through the summer might be Proudinsky, whose head came up at just the wrong instance, costing him victory in the Grade 3, $150,000 turf race.
Kingship took the lead a couple of jumps into the race, while Proudinsky, making only his third start and first outside his native Germany, quickly fell back to last. But a furious stretch rally brought the pair together at the finish.
"I didn't feel him," said winning rider Robby Albarado of Proudinsky. "He was coming too fast."
The scratched from six horses down to four, but really, it was only about one. Henny Hughes made his first start since finishing second last fall in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and he did not disappoint, pulling effortlessly away in the stretch to win the Jersey Shore by 10 lengths on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
His trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, had wondered if Henny Hughes would be better in his second start back than his first, but Henny Hughes's six-furlong time of 1:08.26 was only .42 of a second off the 14-year-old Monmouth track record.
Pommes Frites had a bit of unexpected company early in the $100,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at Philadelphia Park. But she was all alone for most of the run through the stretch.
Briefly relegated to second by 50-1 shot Bonanza Jellybean's burst of early speed, Pommes Frites ($2.80) took the lead before a half-mile was run, opened up by four lengths in the stretch, and held off a rally from Sabellina to win the Penny by 1 1/4 lengths.
