ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A closing I Thee Wed ($55.40) nailed Chris's Bad Boy on the wire to notch his first stakes in the Grade 2 , a supporting feature on Sunday's Pattison Canadian International card at Woodbine.
I Thee Wed came wide from mid-pack in the six-furlong turf event to prevail by a neck over Chris's Bad Boy, who had set fractions of :22.63 and :44.98 seconds over a course labeled good.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Zarb's Dahar and Happy Ticket each capped remarkable seasons at Harrah's Louisiana Downs on Saturday, winning their respective races on the Louisiana Breeders' Festival program. The 13-race card featured eight thoroughbred and five quarter horse events with $750,000 in total purses.
Happy Ticket ($2.40) won for the fifth time in as many starts in Louisiana Breeders' Oaks, drawing clear down the stretch for a seven length win. The victory was her third straight stakes tally.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Will Farish and Nelson Bunker Hunt were inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame during a ceremony after the races Saturday at Lone Star Park.
Hunt was in attendance and received a standing ovation, while Danny Shifflett, a longtime employee of Farish, accepted the honor on behalf of Farish, who was unable to attend Saturday.
Hunt spoke for several minutes following his induction. "I thank my horses," he said, and went on to recount memories of some of his best, including Vaguely Noble, Dahlia, and Exceller.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Habaneros, a former claimer making his stakes debut, led throughout Saturday's $100,000 Carleton Burke Handicap at Santa Anita, pulling an upset over fellow 14-1 longshot Pellegrino.
Ridden by David Flores, Habaneros ($30.20) set slow fractions of 25.26 and 49.30 seconds, led by as many as 1 1-2 lengths on the backstretch and held on by a neck. Habaneros finished 1 1-2 miles on turf in 2:26.91. Pellegrino closed from seventh in the field of eight to finish a neck in front of 29-1 Gallant.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Making up for a rare dull effort in her previous start in the Hillsborough Handicap, Marwood ($4.40) turned in a powerful victory in the $55,550 Golden Poppy Handicap at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Marwood won the one-mile race for fillies and mares on a sloppy track, beating Beaucette by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:35.09.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Danny Pish and jockey Roman Chapa teamed to win two of the four Texas-bred stakes that made up the Stars of Texas Day program at Lone Star Park on Saturday, including the featured $100,000 Assault with 10-1 shot Goosy Moose.
They also teamed to win the $50,000 Mocha Express with favorite Leaving On My Mind.
FAR HILLS, N.J. - Showing the heart of a champion, McDynamo returned from an 11-month layoff to win a second straight Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at the Far Hills Races.
He joins Highland Bud and Morley Street as the only two-time winners of the race.
A 7-year-old gelding, McDynamo prevailed by 1 1/2 lengths over Hirapour in the Grade 1, $175,000 race, the richest in steeplechasing. Sur La Tete was third. The time was 5:06.80 for the 2 5/8 miles over 14 National Fences.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Local stakes winners Kya Jo and Chancy Chancy will make their seasonal debuts in Monday's best race at Portland Meadows, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance that has drawn a field of six fillies and mares.
Kya Jo won three races at the 2003-04 meet, defeating maiden special weight company at six furlongs before winning the six-furlong OTBA Stallion Stakes and the 1 1/16-mile Oregon Oaks.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After a long parade of winning favorites on Saturday's New York Showcase Day card at Belmont Park, Spite the Devil swooped past the favorite, West Virginia, to win the $250,000 by a head and returned $32.
Ridden by Javier Castellano, Spite the Devil was in last position down the backstretch in the 1 1/8-mile Empire Classic. He began to close in on his 13 rivals around the turn and came widest of all into the stretch. Spite the Devil continued to gobble up ground in the stretch while racing in the middle of track and swept by West Virginia in the final yards.
MIAMI - Aclassysassylassy completed her sweep of the filly division of the Florida Stallion Stakes with a 1 3/4-length victory over Babaganush in Saturday's $400,000 . Aclassysassylassy, who registered similar one-sided wins in the Desert Vixen and Susan's Girl Stakes, became only the second filly to sweep the Stallion Stakes in the 24-year history of the series.
