Acting Blonde goes for her third straight win when she squares off against stakes winner Whatsitgonnatake in the $40,000 Indiana First Lady Stakes over the turf at Indiana Downs.
None of the nine Indiana-bred 3-year-old fillies entered in the 7 1/2-furlong First Lady has ever won on grass and only Acting Blonde has ever won around two turns, having done so three times.
Nicole's Dream, an accomplished 6-year-old mare, will take on six colts and geldings at five furlongs in the $40,000 Honor the Hero Turf Express at Canterbury Park.
Nicole's Dream is a turf sprint specialist who has won seven stakes, including two consecutive wins in the Mamzelle, the traditional Derby week turf fixture for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Larry Rivelli, Nicole's Dream was shipped to Sha Tin Racecourse at the end of last season to compete in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, where she set the pace before finishing last.
Wally's Choice faces off against defending champion Silver Axe in Monday's $50,000 Jim Rasmussen Memorial Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Wally's Choice is the likely favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Rasmussen, based on his impressive 2 1/2-length rallying victory in the $100,000 Bosselman at Fonner Park in his lone start of the year. That race was also at 1 1/16 miles, improving Wally's Choice to 7 for 9 at the distance.
Mike Biehler trains the 5-year-old Wally's Choice, who has a career record of 12-0-4 from 25 starts and $400,590 in earnings.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rafael Bejarano was able to keep Ever Elusive off a melting pace, and the filly responded with the first stakes victory of her career Saturday in the third running of the $110,200 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Ever Elusive, owned by the Padua Stables of Satish Sanan, returned $5.80 as a slight favorite in a field of eight fillies and mares. The win was the fifth from 10 starts for Ever Elusive, a 4-year-old Forestry filly who had finished third in the Grade 2 Madison at Keeneland in her previous start.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Park Avenue Ball, last season's champion New Jersey-bred, made a triumphant return to Monmouth Park on Saturday with a half-length victory over Network in the $65,000 Frisk Me Now Stakes.
The 4-5 favorite, Park Avenue Ball fought for every inch of the mile and 70 yards. He shot right to front but soon had company from Ranger Chance. They raced as a team down the backstretch and around the second turn, before Park Avenue Ball, with Chris DeCarlo aboard, pulled clear turning for home.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The crack six-furlong sprinter Fifteen Rounds showed Saturday at Arlington that he really could excel at one mile - and it didn't matter. Fifteen Rounds beat favored Gouldings Green by one length in the , but was disqualified and placed second after stewards judged he'd cut off Gouldings Green at the top of the stretch.
Big Apple Daddy comes running in the final eighth to win Philadelphia's LeVine Handicap in near-record time.
Heavily favored Big Apple Daddy ran down loose-on-the-lead P. Kerney inside the sixteenth pole and drew off to his first stakes victory against open company in the $100,000 Donald LeVine Memorial Handicap on Saturday at Philadelphia Park.
Big Apple Daddy's time of 1:20.79 for seven furlongs was just 0.18 of a second off the track record of 1:20.61 set by Flaming Bridle in 1999.
Unbridled Belle successfully made the jump from first-level allowance to stakes when she overtook Amandatude in the stretch to prevail by a head in the $100,000 Go for Wand at Delaware Park.
It was the second straight win over the local track for Unbridled Belle ($3) since she shipped north after failing to clear her first allowance condition in three starts at Gulfstream Park.
A change of surface due to heavy rain the previous afternoon changed the outlook of both divisions of the $45,000 Sara's Success Stakes at Calder, with Out of Pride and Silversider taking advantage of the situation to register mild upsets in the one-mile overnight stakes.
The drop into statebred company helped Dynamic Deputy snap a four-race losing streak in the $50,000 Shine Again Stakes at Pimlico.
Racing against Maryland-breds for the first time in her 11-race career, the 4-year-old Dynamic Deputy drew close to pacesetter My Girlie entering the stretch, opened up a 1 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole, and increased her margin to 3 3/4 lengths at the wire.
Ridden by Luis Garcia for trainer Dickie Small, Dynamic Deputy ($3.20) recorded her fifth victory and first stakes win while running 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.74.
