ALBANY, Calif. - Press Camp ($5) took command down the backstretch and scored a wire-to-wire victory in the $49,350 Tiburon Overnight Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday.
The 3-year-old filly, coming off a sensational effort in which she recorded a 104 Beyer, defeated three stakes winners in the field of six, handing highly regarded Victorina her first defeat in three starts while winning the six-furlong race in 1:09.58. It was her initial stakes victory.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jet West was claimed for $62,500 last August and has collected $193,932 in five starts for owner Bruce Hochman and trainer Ted H. West. Along the way, Jet West has won the California Cup Sprint and placed in two graded stakes. If the 5-year-old horse is to add to his already lucrative run in Saturday's $150,000 , he will need the best race of his career.
The Grade 2 San Carlos, run at seven furlongs, has drawn a strong field of eight, including Congrats, Imperialism, Major Success, and Surf Cat.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Magna Graduate, a four-time stakes winner who rose to prominence last fall, is being considered for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 4 or the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 25, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday.
Pletcher, who has never won the Big Cap or the Dubai World Cup, said that Magna Graduate's plans depend on how he works on Sunday in Florida.
Pletcher said the Big Cap is a possible start for Magna Graduate since the race lacks a heavy favorite.
Perhaps the best 3-year-old race of the season to date will take place in the unlikeliest of settings when Remsen winner Bluegrass Cat returns in a field of 12 horses entered for Saturday's $75,000 at Tampa Bay Downs.
The 1 1/16-mile Davis is a prep for the track's marquee race, the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 18. The Davis is the highlight of Festival Preview Day, which includes two other stakes.
OLDSMAR Fla. - Laurafina, an upset winner of the Grade 3 Frances Genter Stakes at Calder, is the horse to beat in the $125,000 Endeavour Breeders' Cup Stakes, the supporting feature to the Sam F. Davis Stakes on Saturday's Festival Preview Day card at Tampa Bay Downs. The Endeavour is a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
In the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Distaff, Happy Ticket breaks from the outside stall in a field of eight. The run into the first turn of one-mile races at Evangeline Downs is short, and Happy Ticket risks a wide trip. Neither has Happy Ticket started in a race since she underwent two throat surgeries in an effort to correct a breathing problem that ruined her chances last fall in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Now, if they would just tie a double-wide mobile home to her tail, maybe Happy Ticket really could be beaten.
In Louisiana's new era of ontrack slot machines, the statewide foal crop grows every year. What does that mean for racing? Look no further than the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Starlet, a six-furlong sprint that attracted a stacked field of 13 Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The six stakes on Saturday's Louisiana Premier Night card at Evangeline Downs are worth a combined $570,000, and a total of 122 horses were entered in night's 11 races. There ought to be plenty of value floating around Saturday night in Cajun country.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - First Samurai worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds here Thursday morning, after which trainer Frank Brothers said the colt remains a candidate for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 4.
First Samurai, with Brothers's wife, Donna, aboard, completed his final eighth in under 11.60 seconds. It was the first work for First Samurai, a two-time Grade 1 winner, since he finished second to the undefeated Keyed Entry in his 3-year-old debut in the 7 1/2-furlong Hutcheson Stakes on Feb. 4.
Round Pond indicated she will be a filly to be reckoned with in her division this year, winning a six-furlong Thursday at Oaklawn in her 4-year-old debut, covering the distance in a meet-best time of 1:09.93.
Round Pond, a finalist for champion 3-year-old filly honors last year, will next start in the Grade 3, $175,000 Azeri at Oaklawn on March 11, according to her trainer, John Servis.
