SANTA ROSA, Calif. - My Creed ($12), given a picture ride by Miguel Perez, won his stakes debut, winning the $46,245 James F. Lyttle Memorial Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair on Friday.
"You don't have to do anything, just sit on him and let him run," winning trainer Bob Hess Sr. said.
Perez sat behind Jeffries Bay and Razen Hazen, both of whom were trying two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The recent retirement of Smarty Jones leaves a major void within the 3-year-old division.
With Smarty Jones, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner headed off to stud duty, the remaining stakes within the division offer a window of opportunity for a new leader to emerge.
The Grade 1, $1 million Sunday afternoon at Monmouth Park could propel Lion Heart or Rock Hard Ten up the divisional ladder.
The two colts are the headliners in the 1 1/8-mile centerpiece event of the Monmouth season.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Having captured his first Belmont Stakes earlier this year, trainer Nick Zito is now setting his sights on the other major race he covets so much: the Travers.
Zito already has Birdstone, the Belmont winner, gearing up for the Travers, run here on Aug. 28. He looks to strengthen his hand this weekend with The Cliff's Edge, who will prep for the Travers in Sunday's Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.
The five-week Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 31, will include 28 stakes, including the 10-race California Cup on Oct. 16 and eight prep races for the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup at Lone Star Park.
The preps for the Breeders' Cup dominate the first two weekends of the meeting, with six scheduled for Oct. 2-3 and two for Oct. 9-10.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Patrick Valenzuela was suspended for the remainder of the year and barred from the racetrack for violating his conditional license last month when he failed to submit to a hair-follicle test, the Del Mar stewards ruled on Friday.
In addition, stewards Ingrid Fermin, George Slender, and Tom Ward recommended to the California Horse Racing Board that Valenzuela "not be considered for future licensing by the California Horse Racing Board in any capacity."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In two gray, nondescript trailers adjacent to Saratoga Racecourse's carousel restaurant in the grandstand, a staff of lawyers, accountants, and investigators have set up shop, operating behind signs that say "Authorized Personnel Only."
Unlike those people the signs seek to keep out, the personnel actually in the trailers are authorized to do just about anything at Saratoga, the upstate racetrack operated by the embattled New York Racing Association.
Breeders' Cup Ltd. is expected to announce Sunday that the 2007 World Thoroughbred Championships will be held at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
The Breeders' Cup has already indicated that Monmouth Park is its first choice for 2007. In a release, Breeders' Cup officials said they had scheduled a news conference at Monmouth on Sunday, the day of the Haskell Invitational, Monmouth's most heavily promoted racing day.
My Trusty Cat, 14-1, got up at the wire to win the Miss Honorable by an advancing nose under jockey Pat Day, beating out the tiring Ebony Breeze in the final stride. Smok'n Frolic was third, 2 3/4 lengths back.
Favored Savorthetime finished seventh without ever being in serious contention.
My Trusty Cat paid $30.20 to win, running the six furlongs in 1:10.37.
The win was the first at Saratoga for trainer David Vance, who is based in the Midwest.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There are 23 3-year-olds entered in a trio of weekend stakes that could produce several starters for the $1 million Travers here Aug. 28. The horse to beat in the Travers, Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, signaled Friday that he'll be ready to take on all comers after having a strong workout over the Oklahoma training track.
With regular exercise rider Maxine Correa up, Birdstone drilled six furlongs in an official time of 1:16.84. It was the fastest of three moves at the distance.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - With the sudden retirement of Smarty Jones, the sport's next 3-year-old hero could be a big, temperamental bruiser who is finally starting to tap his tremendous potential.
Rock Hard Ten just might be ready for a major breakthrough Sunday in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
But first, he'll have to mind his manners.
