CHICAGO - The two Hawthorne-based Breeders' Cup horses finished their major fall business on Saturday. Original Spin was a good third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Lord of the Game was not even at Belmont Park.
ALBANY, Calif. - Kevin Krigger, who made a strong impression as a young apprentice here in 2001 when he finished third in the jockey standings despite a string of suspensions, has returned to Golden Gate Fields.
Krigger just won the Emerald Downs riding championship for 2005 with 126 victories and earnings of $1,384,346, the highest total in the track's 10-year history.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - With an overflow of 14 entries, Great Lakes Downs was forced into a rare split of Wednesday's stakes race, the 49th running of the Michigan Futurity for statebred colts and geldings. The divisions of the seven-furlong futurity will be offered as the first two races on the card, which begins at 5 p.m.
Todd Pletcher entered eight horses in six Breeders' Cup races, but his only winner on the card came when Magna Graduate captured the Grade 3, $87,250 .
Pletcher took over Magna Graduate's training early this summer, and now has sent him out to win back-to-back graded stakes. He took the Pegasus Handicap on Sept. 30 at The Meadowlands, and was quite impressive winning the Discovery by three-quarters of a length over favored Scrappy T.
"He's really getting good right now," Pletcher said. "We're delighted with his last two races."
Gotaghostofachance couldn't quite escape traffic problems in time to catch Captain Squire in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Handicap at Santa Anita, but managed to extricate himself from a similar situation to post a half-length victory over Captain Squire in the Grade 3, $250,000 , the opening race on Saturday's Breeders' Cup card at Belmont Park.
Premier Dance won his fourth straight stakes race Sunday, when he circled the field for a length and three-quarter win in the $56,700 Governor's at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.
Might Be Hooked finished second, a neck in front of third-place finisher Down Home Boy.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A $40,000 claimer outfinished an $85,000 claimer in the Grade 3 on Sunday at Santa Anita. Runner-up in a $40,000 claiming race in his most recent start July 22 at Del Mar, Golden Rahy ($12) rallied from last under Alex Solis to win the mile and one-half Burke by a neck over Wild Buddy. The runner-up was claimed for $85,000 in August.
ALBANY, Calif. - Uninhibited Song ($12.40) and Girl Warrior ($4.80) ended up in a deadheat for the victory in a tight four-way finish in the $100,000 at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday.
Although both fillies were stakes winners, the victory was the first ever on the turf for each. The winning time for the 1 1/8-mile race over the Lakeside Turf Course was 1: 50.67 over a course listed as good.
Both stalked pacesetting Penny Ante and Miss Me, with Uninhibited Song, who broke from the rail, getting a ground-saving trip while Girl Warrior was three wide most of the way.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Straight Line was no match for Vicarage in the Oct. 14 Perryville Stakes at Keeneland, finishing second, beaten 10 lengths. But a change in racetrack and surroundings led that outcome to be reversed in Sunday's opening-day $112,200 at Churchill Downs.
Stalking Vicarage through a pressured pace of 44.55 seconds and 1:08.89 in the 7 1/2-furlong Ack Ack, Straight Line was able to easily power past Vicarage in the stretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths before a crowd of 10,625.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If this weekend was Jerry Bailey's last appearance at Belmont Park, he certainly went out in style.
Bailey guided Altando to a last-to-first neck victory in the Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker Handicap as the Belmont Park meet came to a close before 5,509 fans. The victory in the Knickerbocker came almost 24 hours after Bailey guided Saint Liam to victory in the $4.68 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
Bailey, 48, has hinted that he could retire at year's end, though he reiterated Sunday afternoon that he would not make a decision until mid-December.