EDMONTON, Alberta - In a heart-stopping stretch drive, an odds-on favorite battling cheek to jowl with a 34-1 longshot, Organ Grinder gave his pilot Jim McAleney the thrill of his life in a "homecoming" at the track where he was Alberta's champion apprentice 17 year earlier.
An overflow throng of more than 10,000 that jammed every vantage point bore witness to a furious duel through the stretch that will be remembered as an epic in the 75-year history of th $250,000 Canadian Derby.
DEL MAR, Calif. - A string of longshots on Saturday has led to a carryover of $226,040 for Sunday's pick six at Del Mar.
The $2 pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on Sunday's nine-race program, which begins at 2 p.m.
Here is a glance at the changes and top contenders in those races.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Sweet Catomine, considered the weaker half of a favored entry, overcame a bad start to win Saturday's $250,000 for 2-year-old fillies.
Sweet Catomine finished seven furlongs in 1:24.18, the second-slowest time since the Grade 1 Debutante was shortened from a mile in 1993. The victory marked Sweet Catomine's first win; she finished second in a maiden race in her debut on July 31.
Bossier City, La - The next stop for South Africa will be next month's Super Derby as he turned in an impressive frontrunning performance in Saturday's Prelude Stakes. The win netted the son of Cape Town an all-fees-paid berth into this meeting's marquee event slated for September 25. Fantasticat made a late charge up the rail to finish a close second followed by favorite Britt's Jules who rated off the winner early before dueling with that foe through the last half mile.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Nick Zito's resume is complete.
Completing a quest that began 24 years ago, Zito finally won his first on Saturday when Birdstone - the Belmont Stakes winner owned by Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney and her husband John Hendrickson - blew past Purge turning for home and rolled to 2 1/2-length victory over stablemate The Cliff's Edge before a crowd of 48,894.
The severe thunderstorm that rolled into Saratoga Springs as the horses were approaching the starting gate for Saturday's $1 million Travers caused the post time of the race to be moved up by several minutes to 6:22 p.m. The storm also resulted in the cancellation of the 12th and final race on the card.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Last year, trainer Patrick Biancone lost the King's Bishop with the favorite, Zavata, who finished eighth. Things went a whole lot better for Biancone in this year's Grade 1 , when he saddled the third choice, Pomeroy, to win at Saratoga on Saturday.
Pomeroy was a 1 1/2-length winner over Weigelia in the $250,000 King's Bishop. It was a length back to Ice Wynnd Fire in third and another 4 1/4 lengths back to Bwana Charlie in fourth. Saratoga County, Fire Slam, Medallist, and Hosco completed the order of finish.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Evil Minister rallied to beat Park Avenue Ball by three-quarters of a length and upset the Grade 3, $100,000 Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Evil Minister ($51), the longest shot in the eight-horse field, scored his second career win in Monmouth's premier race for 2-year-olds.
Evil Minister debuted at Monmouth on June 19 and finished fourth. He won his maiden last time out at Pimlico on Aug. 1 with the addition of Lasix.
That victory gave Maryland-based trainer Erik Juvonen the confidence to take the jump into a graded stakes.
Trainer Dale Romans and jockey Mark Guidry teamed for another stakes win at Ellis Park, when Added Edge defeated Discreet Hero in a long drive Saturday in the $75,000 Governor's Handicap at the Henderson, Ky., track.
Added Edge, owned by Team Valor and Robert Wilson, raced closest to front-running Discreet Hero for nearly the entire trip of the one-mile Governor's. Down the stretch, Added Edge gradually edged away to prevail by three-quarters of a length for his sixth victory from 14 starts.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - went more than a year without winning a race and trainer Bill Mott thinks he knows why.
When Mott ran Delta Princess in last year's Grade 1 Diana Handicap, she put in a gut-wrenching effort while setting the pace, only to finish eighth, beaten 5 1/4 lengths.
"That really beat her up," Mott said. "She's a hard-trying filly; she just wasn't good enough. I think we hurt her confidence."
