A yielding turf course and an honest pace helped Dancing Master rally to a neck upset over Keep Cool in Saturday's $100,000 Flying Pidgeon Handicap at Calder.
Dancing Master likes running on a grass course that has some give to it. Earlier this year the 7-year-old Irish-bred ran second in the Band Is Passing Stakes over a "good" strip, and in his previous start came within a neck of upsetting Bobs Proud Moment over a "yielding" course in the Grade 3 Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap.
Trapped Again and jockey Joe Rocco took advantage of a lack of pace in the $100,900 Kelso Handicap, going wire to wire and setting a track record for 1 3/16 miles.
Trapped Again set fractions of 24.49 seconds and 49.49 while being hounded by Navesink River. He began to shake clear after six furlongs in 1:13.28 and was long gone by midstretch, winning by 8 3/4 lengths and finishing in 1:55.41, more than a second faster than the old mark of 1:56.60.
Navesink River held second by a half-length over Separato, the 2-1 favorite in the field of eight 3-year-olds and up.
Distinctive Trick, the longest shot in a field of five 3-year-olds, shot through along the rail turning into the stretch and won the $60,000 Sonny Hine Stakes by seven lengths.
Distinctive Trick ($38.60) and jockey Jozbin Santana took advantage of a speed duel in the six-furlong Sonny Hine, sitting well back of dueling leaders Blown Audit and Caribbean Cruiser. Favalora took a short-lived lead entering the stretch, but Distinctive Trick flew past in midstretch. Favalora finished second, with Salary Cap rallying for third. Distinctive Trick covered the six furlongs in 1:11.86.
Precisepursuit seemed to have two strikes against her going into the $50,000 Finger Lakes Juvenile Fillies: She had been all out to win her maiden in mediocre time in her last start, and that race had come more than two months ago. Accordingly, Precisepursuit was sent off at 16-1 in the six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies.
ANDERSON, Ind. - Flying Glitter wasn't presented an easy lead, but she made the most of her front-running speed to capture the Grade 3, $405,100 by 1 1/2 lengths at Hoosier Park on Friday night.
Jockey Robby Albarado positioned Flying Glitter out from the rail and allowed Miss Matched, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, to come up inside and force the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Oaks. Miss Matched took her best runs late on the backstretch and again on the far turn, when she briefly put a head in front.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Magna Graduate has been knocking on the door throughout his 3-year-old season. Friday night at The Meadowlands, he finally arrived.
With a five-race losing streak in tow, including recent runner-up finishes in the West Virginia Derby and Ohio Derby, Magna Graduate reversed a hard-luck 3-year-old season with a win in the Grade 3, $250,000 on opening night at the Big M.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Even if the surprise entry of Sweet Return in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship rescues the 1 1/4-mile turf race from unimportance, two lesser stakes Sunday at Santa Anita may ultimately overshadow the main event.
Hollywood Story and Island Fashion prep for the Breeders' Cup Distaff when they meet in the Grade 2 Lady's Secret Handicap; Jealous Profit and A.P. Warrior try to prove they belong in the BC Juvenile by first running in the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. - At each stop on the Southern California racing circuit this year, a different horse has won the major race of the meet for older fillies and mares. Tarlow won the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita, Splendid Blended the Vanity at Hollywood Park, and Tucked Away the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The absence of Stevie Wonderboy from Sunday's $200,000 Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita has swelled the field to 12 entrants, many seeking a big performance to justify a trip to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park on Oct. 29.
Stevie Wonderboy, the winner of the Del Mar Futurity, would have been heavily favored in the Grade 2 Norfolk, run over 1 1/16 miles. Without him, the race lacks a stakes winner.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo has returned to training after a summer off because of injury and could be ready for a start by the end of the Hollywood Park fall meeting, trainer John Shirreffs said.
Unraced since finishing seventh in the Belmont Stakes on June 11, Giacomo was given a clean bill of health in late August after having bone chips removed from his left front ankle and right knee in mid-June. The bone chips were diagnosed following the Belmont Stakes.
