CHICAGO - Win Me Over conquered two turns and statebred stakes competition with a remarkable win Saturday in the Jim Edgar Futurity. Now it is on to Florida, where Win Me Over cannot take shelter in Illinois-bred races.
He might not need to, not after the way he won Saturday's Futurity, breaking from post 14, making one run out of last place to get position on the far turn, and another furious one to blow past favored Humor at Last in deep stretch.
Jockey Christina Gray, who was involved in a two-horse spill at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., on Friday night, was listed in serious condition at Memorial Hospital in Lake Charles, La., on Monday.
She fractured two vertebrae and will likely need surgery, according to a family member who also said her condition has improved since Friday. Gray, 34, was thrown from her mount, Tell a Calm, when the horse fell on the second turn of a one-mile race at Delta.
Winter weather played havoc with racing at several tracks Sunday and Monday.
Pimlico Race Course canceled its eight-race card Monday because of high winds. Live racing returns to Pimlico on Sunday after a five-day break for the Christmas holiday.
Philadelphia Park canceled its live racing after two races on Monday when the jockeys decided weather conditions were too harsh to continue. Monday's live racing at Thistledown and Charles Town was also canceled because of the cold.
ALBANY, Calif. - Golden Gate Fields will have a carryover of over $225,000 when racing resumes Sunday after a series of longshots won the first three races on Monday's card.
First-timer Chullo Uno scored a $143 upset in the first leg of the Pick Six, which entered the day with a $94,951 carryover.
Trainer W.L. McDaniel, 0-for-82 on the year, saddled back-to-back winners in the next two legs, winning with Wild Sissy ($80.40) and Cantresisthiskiss ($82.60).
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Don Six took advantage of the fortuitous scratches of two speed horses and then proceeded to go gate to wire to win Sunday's Grade 3, $109,400 by 1 1-4 lengths at Aqueduct.
Mr Whitestone rallied from well back to be second, one-half length ahead of Papua. Gators n Bears, the 4-5 favorite, faded to fourth after chasing Don Six for the opening five furlongs. Black Silk and Eavesdropper completed the order of finish.
ALBANY, Calif. - Cee's Irish ($4.20) gave trainer Doug O'Neill a sweep of the weekend stakes races at Golden Gate Fields when she caught Island Escape and stuck her nose in front at the wire to win the $60,400 on Sunday.
Cee's Irish raced four wide the entire race but pulled even with pacesetting Island Escape in the lane. The two alternated on the lead with Cee's Irish proving best at the wire, winning the one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies by a nose in 1:36.94. On London Time rallied along the rail to finish third one-half length behind the first two runners.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Splendid Blended showed in Sunday's $389,000 Hollywood Starlet that she has grown up quite nicely.
After racing erratically in the Oak Leaf Stakes in October, Splendid Blended turned in a professional performance to win the first stakes of her career in the Grade 1 .
The victory marked the most prestigious win for owner-breeder Peter Vegso of Boca Raton, Fla., and gives him a top contender for the major stakes for 3-year-old fillies in 2005.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After 50 weeks of uncertainty, clarity at last was reached on Saturday in determining the nation's champion 2-year-old male. In a title-deciding match, the unbeaten Declan's Moon turned back Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Wilko and Champagne Stakes winner Proud Accolade in the Grade 1, $449,500 .
