Demagoguery, the top 2-year-old male last year at Great Lakes Downs, returned here Tuesday evening, crushing four foes to win an allowance race by nearly 12 lengths.
Owned by Mary Mazur and trained by leading trainer Gerald Bennett, Demagoguery was the fourth winner of the night for top rider Terry Houghton. Demagoguery paid $2.60 and creating a minus show pool of more than $250.
Saturday's races at Lincoln State Fair had a New York flavor, as they were attended by a group from Fort Edward, N.Y., the members of Fort Edward High School's class of 1956. Phil Fennley, a Fort Edward native who now lives in Omaha, was joined by other class members as they prepare for a 50-year class reunion next year.
Fennley was a regular patron at the now closed Ak-Sar-Ben. He lives a short drive from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the famous racetrack there.
Horse-for-the-course Cobra Lady drew off to a 3 3/4-length victory in Tuesday night's $75,000 Ohio Valley Handicap for filly-and-mare sprinters at Mountaineer.
A 5-year-old mare trained and owned by J. Michael Baird, Cobra Lady ($4.40) is now 8 for 15 lifetime on the Mountaineer main track and has won 6 of her last 7 races at 5 1/2 or six furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It's unlikely that many could have foreseen what would transpire when Jody Hammett took over as the trainer for owner Herbert Chambers this year.
Hammett has held one of the hottest hands on the grounds this spring, with 8 victories from 21 starts after Praise From Dixie and Gamblers Slew both scored last Sunday.
Hammett is just 31 years old but already qualifies as a veteran racetracker - he began coming to the backstretch some 20 years ago when an uncle had horses with the late trainer Joe Attard.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Steve Henson was a bit surprised by the outcome of the Emerald Downs Stakes last Sunday at Hastings. Henson won the Emerald with Regal Pusher, and while he certainly thought the 3-year-old filly belonged in the race, she was a little quiet that morning, and Henson wasn't sure if she was going to be on top of her game.
Defending world champion Be a Bono makes his first appearance since December in the trials to the Grade 1, $134,000 Vessels Maturity at Los Alamitos on Friday night.
The horses with the 10 fastest times from two trials qualify for the 400-yard finals on June 24. But since there are only 12 horses total, only the horses with the two slowest times will not qualify for the Vessels Maturity.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Bobby Frankel received many congratulatory phone calls following Ghostzapper's demonstrative victory in Monday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. One, in particular, stood out.
"John Nerud called me up and he was congratulating me and said it brought back memories of Dr. Fager to him, which is a huge compliment," Frankel said Tuesday morning.
ELMONT, N.Y. - A diverse group of older fillies and mares gets together in Thursday's featured eighth race, a third-level allowance with a $75,000 optional claiming price scheduled for one mile on turf.
None of the six entered for turf is eligible to be claimed. Among the trio of main-track-only entrants - Provincial, Childress, and Think Fast - only Think Fast, a winner at this condition last out, is in for $75,000.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer John Shirreffs has a filly for each of the major dirt stakes for females at Belmont Park and Hollywood Park this month.
Shirreffs plans to run Hollywood Story in Saturday's $200,000 Milady Breeders' Cup Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Hollywood Park, but will hold Tarlow out of that race in favor of the $300,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park on June 18.
Not only will the two major stakes winners not have to face each other, but Shirreffs can keep different owners happy.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tiz Afire may have finished only fourth in his first start against winners on May 5, but the performance left trainer Marty Jones encouraged.
For Tiz Afire's return in a $51,000 allowance race for California-breds over a mile on turf at Hollywood Park on Thursday, Jones is adding blinkers - and expecting improvement from Tiz Afire.
"The horse can really run, but he runs kind of spotty," Jones said. "He's kind of figuring it out. We'll put blinkers on him and hope that will make him a little more focused."
