ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Apprentice jockey Corey Fraser rode his first Thoroughbred race at Woodbine last Oct. 13, finishing second aboard War Medal.
On Tuesday morning, Fraser still was basking in the glow of his first stakes success, having guided Velvet Snow to an upset victory for owner Frank DiGiulio Jr. and trainer Bob Tiller here in last Saturday's Ontario Damsel.
"Coming down the lane, I thought, 'I'm going to catch these guys. This is great,' " Fraser said.
Note: Brad Free's analysis for the Wednesday, July 14 Hollywood card was inadvertently omitted from Wednesday Southern California print editions of Daily Racing Form. Free's Wednesday analysis appears in its entirety below. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our print customers.
BRAD FREE'S HOLLYWOOD ANALYSIS - WED., JULY 14
BEST BET: Madringa (7th race)
First Race
1. Gassan Rock 2. Onlyamatteroftime 3. Malibu Baby
Summer Wind Dancer, a 4-year-old filly who has raced exclusively in California, is the 5-2 morning line favorite for Sunday's Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap.
Trained by Jeff Mullins, Summer Wind Dancer drew post 9 in a field of 10 fillies and mares when entries were taken for the 1 1/4-mile stakes Tuesday at Delaware Park. Victor Espinoza will fly in from Southern California for the mount.
In her last start, Summer Wind Dancer won the Grade 3 Hawthorne Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race at Hollywood Park on June 6.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Until his upset win in Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, Total Impact had more layoffs caused by injury than stakes wins since arriving in the United States nearly three years ago.
A fractured tibia in 2002 and soreness in his front legs last year kept Total Impact from reaching his potential. "It's been an exercise in patience," said trainer Laura de Seroux.
This year, Total Impact has been a mainstay in California's handicap division and turned in a breakthrough performance in the Grade 1 Gold Cup.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Seattle Fitz, working for his next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, covered a half-mile in 48.62 seconds at Belmont Park on Monday.
Jockey Richard Migliore was aboard for the work, Seattle Fitz's second since winning the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap on June 12. The clockers timed Seattle Fitz galloping out five furlongs in 1:02. The track was listed fast.
ELMONT, N.Y. - With an eye on the Yaddo Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 18, trainer Scott Schwartz will run Dynamic Lisa in Wednesday's third race at Belmont Park, an optional claimer with a purse of $50,000.
Last year on July 20, Dynamic Lisa won a New York-bred allowance race at one mile on Belmont's Widener turf course. In her next start, she won a division of the restricted Yaddo Handicap at Saratoga by five lengths.
Schwartz is hoping for a duplication of those efforts, starting with Wednesday's mile turf race for fillies and mares.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Three stakes are scheduled for the upcoming closing weekend at Hollywood Park, but two of them may not be run.
The scheduled stakes are the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship and $75,000 Valkyr Handicap on Saturday, and the $150,000 Sunset Handicap on Sunday, the final day of the spring-summer meeting.
The Valkyr, for statebred fillies and mares over 1 1/4 miles on turf, is unlikely to be carded. It drew only five nominations, and not all of them are committed to start.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tarlow, who finished behind champion 2-year-old filly Halfbridled in two major stakes last fall, makes her 3-year-old debut in a $47,000 allowance race at Hollywood Park on Wednesday. The race is not an easy spot for a comeback.
The field of six includes Crowded Room, 4, who has won her last two starts, and Espy, who was fifth in her first start in 18 months in late May.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Announced amid great fanfare, the teaming of owner Michael Gill and jockey Stewart Elliott has quietly ended.
Elliott no longer rides first call for Gill at Monmouth Park.
"It's no big deal," Elliott said. "It was a mutual thing. We both decided it would be better. I'm still riding some horses for him."
CHICAGO - Alumni Hall came out of Saturday's victory in the Black Tie Affair Handicap in good physical condition, but whether he comes back to Arlington for the Washington Park Handicap on July 31 is uncertain. The way trainer Neil Howard was talking Monday morning, the Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap, a race later in August, is at least as likely a spot for Alumni Hall's next start.
