CHICAGO - No more Hong Kong trips for Nicole's Dream, but another year of racing.
The leading Midwest turf sprinter over the last several seasons, Nicole's Dream might have been retired this winter after a last-place finish in the Dec. 11 Hong Kong Sprint. Instead, she is back at trainer Larry Rivelli's Hawthorne barn, working her way toward a 2006 debut.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Lawyer Ron powered to an outstanding, off-the-pace effort Saturday to win his fifth straight race in the Grade 3, $300,000 at Oaklawn Park and continue his trek toward the Kentucky Derby.
Lawyer Ron won by three lengths, and with the victory remained unbeaten on dirt. Red Raymond finished second, giving trainer Bob Holthus a sweep of the first two spots in the Rebel and a strong hand heading into the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 15.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Deputy Glitters got the drop on Bluegrass Cat in the opening furlong of the $250,000 and used that advantage to post a two-length upset of the 2-5 favorite in the main event on Saturday's 13-race Festival Day card at Tampa Bay Downs.
CHICAGO - He wins with maidens, allowance horses, dirt sprinters, and turf routers. Trainer Wayne Catalano won 36 percent of all his horses' starts in 2005. But what about a 6-year-old horse that hasn't raced in 2 1/2 years?
Don't count him out.
OCALA, Fla. - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company will host its 17th annual festival of racing on Monday, with six stakes offering a total of $380,000 in purses. The races will be run over the one-mile track at the OBS Training Center.
The featured events are the two divisions of the $100,000 OBS Championship Stakes. The supporting stakes include two divisions of the $50,000 OBS Sprint Stakes. Separate divisions of each race are offered for 3-year-old males and 3-year-old fillies. All four races require that an entrant has gone through the sales ring of an OBS auction.
Splendid Blended rebounded from a subpar effort when getting a perfect trip Saturday under Manoel Cruz to win the Grade 2, $187,000 at Gulfstream Park.
Splendid Blended had finished sixth in her previous start, the Feb. 18 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream, a race that marked her first race in 6 1/2 months. She clearly benefited from that effort Saturday, forcing the pace in the Shirley Jones before edging clear to prevail by 3 1/4 lengths over Beautiful Bets. Splendid Blended returned $8 as second choice.
Maryfield won her second straight race since being claimed by trainer Doug O'Neill when she captured the $80,605 Flower Girl Handicap at Santa Anita.
The Flower Girl, a sprint for older fillies and mares, was a supporting feature to the San Felipe Handicap, which was run later in the day.
Ball Four made a successful return to action, when he led all the way under apprentice Julien Leparoux to win the $49,500 Tejano Run Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Trained by Patrick Biancone, Ball Four had been on a 5 1/2-month freshening before returning in the 1 1/8-mile Tejano Run. A 5-year-old gelding by Grand Slam, Ball Four returned $5.40 after finishing in 1:51.97 over Polytrack.
Don't expect to see either Reckless Ways or P. Kerney running for a claiming tag again anytime soon.
Taken for $18,000 in January, the 5-year-old Reckless Ways scored his third consecutive victory for his new connections and provided 18-year-old apprentice rider Rosie Napravnik with her first stakes win in Saturday's $60,000 Harrison Johnson Memorial Handicap at Laurel Park.
About an hour later, P. Kerney, claimed for $25,000 out of his last start on Jan. 22, scored a 15-1 upset over a quality group of older sprinters in the $60,000 Northern Wolf Stakes.
