INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Once considered most effective as a turf sprinter, has been slowly shaking that reputation over the last five months.
During her current three-race winning streak, she has won two allowance races over a mile and defended her title in the Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Handicap over about 6 1/2 furlongs on Santa Anita's hillside turf course in October.
MIAMI - Dreadnaught was running in maiden races over the jumps last summer and was still eligible for his second-level allowance condition on the flats in early October.
Saturday at Calder, he won his second Grade 2 race in less than a month after wearing down Demeteor in the final strides to register a neck victory in the $200,000 .
MIAMI - Trainer Bobby Frankel said Arvada had no excuse in her last start, when she finished third behind the highly regarded Eleusis in the Long Island Handicap at Belmont Park. Saturday at Calder, Arvada needed no excuses after she withstood a late charge from tepid favorite Humaita to post a head victory in the $200,000 .
The Grade 2 La Prevoyante, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for fillies and mares, was one of four stakes on the Grand Slam II program.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Sensational-sonny, who is coming off a surprising third in the Oregon Sprint Starter Handicap here on Oregon Championship Day, will head a field of seven in Monday's one-mile feature for older $6,250 claimers.
Trained by Robbie Baze, Sensationalsonny was sent off at 8-1 in the Oregon Sprint Starter Handicap, which was for horses who had started for a $5,000 tag, but he finished strongly for third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Dusty Slew in 1:12.60. In his previous start, Sensationalsonny beat $3,200 rivals at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 4.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Grand Reward, one of the best bred horses in training, is likely to make his dirt debut in the $250,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita next Sunday.
Owned by the partnership of Bob and Beverly Lewis, Michael Tabor, and Susan Magnier, Grand Reward is by top stallion Storm Cat out of Serena's Song, the champion mare the Lewises campaigned in the 1990's.
So far, Grand Reward has started only on turf in Europe, compiling a modest record of 2 wins in 14 starts, while placing in six stakes.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jim Hilling is weighing his options carefully with Aisle Light, who is nominated for next Sunday's Work the Crowd Handicap here.
On one hand, the race, run at a mile for Cal-bred fillies and mares on turf, has a guaranteed $100,000 purse.
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..
