DEL MAR, Calif. - It took until he was age 6, in his 22nd lifetime start, for Kela to finally run six furlongs. Chances are, he'll do it again.
Kela, shortening up from recent races ranging from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, benefited from a hot early pace and rallied from last to first to capture Sunday's $250,000 at Del Mar.
The victory gave Kela's trainer, 56-year-old Mike Mitchell, his first victory in a Grade 1 race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Shoal Water ($12.70) fought off a game Mobil in the stretch and set a course record in the $333,300 Chinese Cultural Centre Stakes at Woodbine Sunday.
Shoal Water ran a mile and three-eighths in 2:12.37 seconds under Todd Kabel. The previous record of 2:13.05 was set by Dawson's Legacy in 1999.
Mobil set moderate fractions of :24.19, :48.56 and 1:12.72 seconds, while being stalked by Shoal Water and Control Tower.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Presidentialaffair continued his love affair with Monmouth Park as he scored a front-running victory Sunday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Salvator Mile.
Presidentialaffair ($6.60) improved his Monmouth record to six wins in nine starts with a one-length win over 8-5 favorite Unforgettable Max.
"He just bounces over this racetrack," said trainer Martin Ciresa. "I had an option to run him in a Pennsylvania-bred stakes but you can't knock his record here."
VALLEJO, Calif. - Yerevan Star ($17.60), making only the third start of her career, captured the $43,565 Fairfield Stakes at the Solano County Fair on Saturday.
Yerevan Star sat behind early leader Princess Lianna down the backstretch and moved three wide on the turn to take the lead. She opened a 2 1/2-length advantage on favored Favorite Times in the stretch of the six-furlong race and held on to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:10.65.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Kent Desormeaux peeked over his right shoulder three times as he reached a contending position in early stretch aboard Musical Chimes in Saturday's $400,000 at Del Mar.
Desormeaux was waiting for the expected challenge from Light Jig, the 7-5 favorite.
The rally from Light Jig never occurred, and may not have been a factor the way Musical Chimes reached the front.
Without being struck by a whip, Musical Chimes pulled clear to win the Grade 1 Mabee by 1 1-4 lengths over Moscow Burning.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Leaving the three-furlong marker in Saturday's at Belmont Park, Ashado had put away Stellar Jayne but was about to be confronted by Magical Illusion, whom the betting public determined had the best chance of upsetting Ashado.
The challenge didn't last long, however, as Ashado repelled Magical Illusion by the quarter pole
and cruised home an emphatic 4 1/2-length winner of the Grade 1, $500,000 race to reassert her standing as the best 3-year-old filly in the country.
DEL MAR, Calif. - is part racehorse, part clown.
"He's a funny, big, immature, goofy horse," trainer Kristin Mulhall said.
And one with loads of talent.
On Monday at Del Mar, Fantastic Spain will start as the favorite in a $63,000 optional claimer over 1 3/8 miles on turf. Mulhall and owners David Bienstock, Steve Taub, and Chuck Winner are hoping that Fantastic Spain can move closer to a stakes appearance with a win.
The distance is not a concern to Mulhall.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Alex Solis will not ride until at least September after suffering a cracked vertebra and three cracked ribs in a one-horse spill at Del Mar on Friday.
The immediate impact of the injury will prevent Solis from riding top handicap horse Pleasantly Perfect in the $250,000 San Diego Handicap next Sunday. Solis was aboard Pleasantly Perfect for wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic last October and the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March.
Solis, 40, will likely have surgery, according to his agent, Scotty McClellan.
