SAN MATEO, Calif. - Not that trainer Greg Gilchrist expected anything other than Lost in the Fog's 7 3/4-length victory over Halo Cat in last Saturday's $100,000 , but he was breathing a sigh of relief on Sunday.
"It was a race we were supposed to win," he said. "He's supposed to beat that kind of horse if he truly belongs in the Breeders' Cup. The horse he beat is a nice horse, but I don't think it's unfair to say his best days may be a bit back."
Lost in the Fog's performance was typical.
CHICAGO - Eight days into Hawthorne's fall season, Tom Tomillo has started more horses, won more races, and earned more purse money at the meet than any other trainer stabled in Chicago. He sent out Lord of the Game to finish a close second in the Hawthorne Gold Cup and has the horse to catch in Wednesday's featured fourth race.
EDMONTON, Alberta - With the stakes schedule approaching its final weeks, the stage was taken over by some of the lesser lights at Northlands Park last weekend.
Jiffyjimmygee completed a sweep of the ninth annual Hearts of Oak marathon series with a 5 1/4-length victory over Shady Remark in Friday's $19,800 finale at 1 5/8 miles. Jiffyjimmygee won the first of the two legs when he defeated Bue Moon by 3 3/4 lengths Aug. 26.
Ready for Roses ($4) rallied from more than 16 lengths back and got up in the final stride to score a neck victory over pacesetter Go Johnny Go in the $75,000 Best of Ohio Endurance, the feature among five statebred stakes on the Best of Ohio program at Beulah Park.
Irwin Rosendo rode 3-year-old gelding Ready for Roses to his second straight stakes win over older rivals in the 1 1/4-mile Endurance, and his fourth career win in nine starts.
Artemus Sunrise ($63.80), ridden by Jesus Castanon, rallied from just off the pace to capture the Grade 3, $100,000 Turfway Fall Championship.
Claimed for $30,000 earlier this year by trainer Steve Flint on behalf of owner Thad Ackel, Artemus Sunrise prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Mr. Krisley, a 67-1 shot. Nkosi Reigns and Senor Swinger, the co-favorites at 5-2, finished fifth and sixth in the field of 12.
Flint said Artemus Sunrise could run next in the Ack Ack Handicap on Oct. 30, opening day of the Churchill Downs fall meet.
FRESNO, Calif. - Thanks to a revision to the racing calendar, the Big Fresno Fair, which opens its meet Wednesday, will be the only game in northern California for 4 of its 11 days of racing.
In the past, Fresno and Bay Meadows overlapped for four days. But this year, Fresno will present the only live racing in northern California on the next two Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"It's fantastic," director of racing Dan White said. "We're waiting to see how the days go."
White is optimistic the elimination of four days of overlap will lead to increased field size.
ALBANY, Calif. - Four $100,000 stakes, highlighted by the Grade 3 Silky Sullivan, will be offered when Golden Gate Fields holds its fall meeting from Oct. 19-Dec. 19. The Silky Sullivan is a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds on Nov. 5.
The other $100,000 races at the meet are: the 1 3/8-mile Tanforan Handicap on the turf, to be run Oct. 22, the opening Saturday of the meet; the Miss America Handicap for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on the turf Oct. 30; and the 1 1/16-mile Forty Niner Handicap on Nov. 25.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A Bit O'Gold moved back to the top of the local turf class Sunday with his neck score under Jono Jones in the Grade 2 Sky Classic Handicap at Woodbine.
"I thought he ran a very gutsy race," said Catherine Day Phillips, who trains A Bit O'Gold for The Two Bit Racing Stable.
"It was a very, very good ride by Jono and a tremendous performance by A Bit O'Gold."
Despite her words of praise for A Bit O'Gold, Day Phillips isn't about to call out the brass band for the Grade 1 Canadian International here Oct. 23.
Bobby Frankel long ago established his dominance on both coasts of the United States, but it has only been in recent years, as purses at Kentucky's major racetracks became competitive with those in New York and Southern California, that Frankel's influence has come to the fore at Keeneland and Churchill Downs.
