INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For the second straight Saturday, Hollywood Park was forced to move scheduled turf races to the main track when jockeys complained about the condition of the grass course.
Hollywood Park ran races on the turf on both Thursday and Friday without incident, and the weather has been warm and dry all week. Yet after Saturday's second race, jockeys who rode in that race told track management the course was uneven.
NEW ORLEANS - Shadow Cast turned in a game effort Saturday at Fair Grounds to win the $60,000 for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on the turf.
Leading jockey Robby Albarado posted his third victory on the card aboard Shadow Cast, finishing a neck ahead of fast-closing Code of Ethics, a 50-1 longshot. Sister Swank, the 9-5 favorite, was another head farther back, holding on for third by a nose over Galloping Gal.
Win Me Over broke from post 14, and as he leaned into the far turn of the Jim Edgar Futurity at Hawthorne he briefly fell into last place. But with help from a masterful ride by Chris Emigh, Win Me Over thundered up the rail and caught laboring favorite Humor at Last to win the $115,350 Futurity by a half-length.
Trained by Brian Williamson, Win Me Over paid $12.20 to win, running 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.10. Humor at Last held second by 3 1/2 lengths over Fear of Secrets..
Discreet Hero never gave his many backers an anxious moment when he cruised to a front-running, 14-length victory in the $50,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway Park.
Ridden by the meet's leading jockey, Dean Sarvis, Discreet Hero returned $3 as part of a heavily favored entry trained by Bernie Flint. After breaking fastest of all among a field of seven older horses, Discreet Hero maintained a slight advantage until turning for home, where he steadily drew off to finish the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:47.52 over a fast track.
Few horses are capable of stretching out from six furlongs to 1 1/8 miles in consecutive starts. Aggadan, however, proved up to the challenge.
After winning a sprint stakes last month, the New York-based Aggadan returned to Pimlico to score a half-length victory in the $100,000 Jennings Handicap at nine furlongs.
Ridden for the first time by Ariel Smith, Aggadan launched his winning move between horses at the three-sixteeenth pole and withstood a late rally by Irish Colony to win for the 12th time in 30 career starts. His time on a fast track was 1:52.80.
Valid Faith became a stakes winner Friday night, when he drove to a 2 1/2-length win over Cort's P.B. in the $40,000 Cocodrie at Delta Downs. It was another half-length back in third to Mister Ajax.
Valid Faith ($14.60) raced in second early, pushing Cort's P.B. through an opening quarter in 23.81 seconds and a half-mile in 48.15. Valid Faith soon took over and went on to cover the 6 1/2 furlongs, which was run around two turns, in 1:22.10.
OLDSMAR Fla. - Some folks took Avid Skier a little lightly when he was entered in a five-furlong allowance sprint on opening day at Tampa Bay Downs because six of his last seven starts had come in middle-distance stakes and allowance races. But Gerald Bennett, the 3-year-old Avid Skier's trainer, wasn't one of them.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - At least on Sunday, No Bull Baby, Sharp Lisa, and Splendid Blended can escape the shadow of division leader Sweet Catomine.
Those three fillies finished behind Sweet Catomine in major stakes earlier this year, but face no such standout in Sunday's $380,000-estimated Hollywood Starlet at Hollywood Park.
The Starlet, run over 1 1/16 miles, offers , and their four opponents an opportunity at a lucrative prize in the year's final Grade 1 race for 2-year-old fillies.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Quintons Gold Rush, the winner of the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland in April, may start in the $100,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 instead of the $250,000 Malibu Stakes on dirt the same day, trainer Mike Mitchell said.
Mitchell said that he has yet to finalize plans with owners Satish Sanan and Jay Manoogian, but that he would prefer to start Quintons Gold Rush on turf.
