ARCADIA, Calif. - Louvain emphasized her status as an outstanding female turf miler with a victory in Sunday's $100,000 Harold Ramser, Sr. Handicap at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.
Louvain rallied from eighth to win the Ramser by three-quarters of a length over Shining Energy. Ridden by Tyler Baze, a late substitute for injured Patrick Valenzuela, Louvain ($10.40) ran a mile on turf in 1:35.14. She rallied wide under Baze to reach contention quickly in early stretch.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Neil Howard just might be right. The veteran trainer said six furlongs is the ideal distance for Reunited, and the filly lent credence to that theory Sunday when she barely held on to win the $300,000 at Keeneland.
Reunited, the lone 3-year-old in a field of 10 fillies and mares, collared the speedy Forest Music in the final half-furlong of the Grade 3 TCA Stakes, then was fully extended to finish a head clear of a torrid late run by Miss Terrible. Robby Albarado was aboard Reunited, who returned $12 as second choice with her first graded stakes victory.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Pyramid Park lit up the tote board with a $108.40 payoff when he won his maiden in style on Sunday in the $253,200 at Woodbine.
With Slade Callaghan riding for trainer Mike Doyle, Pyramid Park stalked a rapid pace in the mile and a sixteenth grass race for 2-year-olds. French Beret, Run Justin Run and Shadow Rush dueled through wind-aided fractions of :22.62 and :44.95 seconds.
AUBURN, Wash. - Schoolin You came through along the inside to take the lead entering the stretch, then repulsed a prolonged challenge from Raise the Bluff to prevail by a neck in Saturday's $100,000 Gottstein Futurity at Emerald Downs.
Schoolin You, a son of You and I from the barn of trainer Jim Penney, got the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.80 under Miguel Perez and paid $4.00 to win as part of the favored entry. Raise the Bluff finished 7 1/4 lengths clear of the third finisher, Coastal King.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Monashee, under a confident ride by Justin Stein, cruised to a 4 3/4 length win in the $178,350 Grade 3 at Hastings Saturday afternoon.
Breaking sharply from the rail, Stein moved Monashee off of the rail where she stalked a moderate pace set by Pretty Meadow. When Stein called on her at the quarter-pole, Monashee made a powerful move and the only question from there was how far she was going to win by.
"When I asked her to run, she just let her rip right away," said Stein.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Aragorn won his U.S. stakes debut in Saturday's $150,000 , but had to survive a steward's inquiry to keep the victory.
Aragorn ($9.20) finished a nose in front of Eastern Sand, running 1 1-8 miles on turf in 1:46.48. The stewards inquired into a bumping incident between the two in the final furlong, ruling that any contact did not affect the order of finish.
Aragorn ($9.20) was ridden by Patrick Valenzuela for trainer Neil Drysdale.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Rafael Bejarano can do little wrong at Keeneland these days. Riding Sweet Talker, the longest shot in a field of seven 3-year-old fillies, Bejarano put a perfectly timed ride to maximum use when Sweet Talker lasted by the barest of margins Saturday in winning the $500,000 .
MIAMI - In Summation's quest to sweep the open division of the Florida Stallion Stakes fell inches short on Saturday when Blazing Rate got the best of a head-bob to post a thrilling nose victory in the $400,000 .
The 1 1/16-mile In Reality was the highlight of the eight stakes races on Saturday's $1.6 million Festival of the Sun card at Calder.
MIAMI - Consider Thesource, who won her maiden for a $25,000 claiming price and had never even raced against allowance company in her first three starts, pulled off one of the most stunning victories in Florida Stallion Stakes history when finishing full of run to register a 1 3/4-length victory over Stolen Prayer and pay $106.20 in Saturday's $400,000 at Calder.
Running Lass, who had captured the opening two legs of the filly division of the Stallion Series, tired badly as the 2-1 favorite in a field of 10 2-year-old fillies and beat only Pyrite Beauty, who was eased.
