INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For a former $50,000 claimer, Pohave had little trouble dominating the sprint division at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting.
Having won the Grade 3 Los Angeles Times Handicap on May 8, Pohave was sent off favored in Saturday's $300,000 Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap and rallied from off the pace to score his second career stakes win.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Request for Parole, a hard-luck loser in many of his recent races, ended the hex Saturday with a victory in the 51st running of the Grade 1, $750,000 at Monmouth Park.
Request for Parole's performance lines were littered with comments like "traffic" and "steadied." On Saturday, he had clear sailing to outduel Mr O'Brien by a half-length, with Nothing to Lose third.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Back in April, after Ticker Tape won the Providencia Stakes over a mile on turf at Santa Anita, trainer Jim Cassidy wondered aloud whether the filly would be competitive at longer distances.
Saturday, he got an emphatic answer.
Ticker Tape, who had failed as the favorite in two prep races earlier at this meeting, pulled a 12-1 upset in the Grade 1, $750,000 at Hollywood Park, holding off a late rally from the Japanese invader Dance in the Mood.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Del Carroll II rarely ships horses from his New York base to Kentucky, but when he does, look out.
For the second straight year, Carroll sent out the winner of the , as Quantum Merit drew away to his fourth straight victory by capturing the one-mile turf race Saturday at Churchill Downs.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - An hour before Saturday's , you could not see across the racetrack here, with low clouds and torrential rain blanketing the Arlington grounds. The trainer Laura de Seroux was concerned about severe weather - but not about its effect on Arlington's grass course.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The strength of the filly and mare turf division is on the West Coast or in Bobby Frankel's barn. With no California horses shipping east and with Frankel going deep into his stable for a runner, Monday's $250,000 New York Handicap looks like a wide-open event.
A field of eight was entered for the Grade 2 New York, a 1 1/4-mile race scheduled for Belmont Park's inner turf course.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In her last two starts, Friendly Michelle had done all the dirty work on the front end. Though she was able to hold on and win the Grade 3 La Troienne, Friendly Michelle faltered to third in the Grade 1 Acorn.
Saturday, Friendly Michelle was able to stalk another horse, and her strong kick was good enough run down the pacesetting Forest Music inside the eighth pole to win the Grade 1, $250,000 by 2 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park. Longshot Feline Story ran down Forest Music by a nose for second.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - beat four rivals in winning the Three Chimneys Juvenile and just three in his Kentucky Breeders' Cup triumph. The field won't be much bigger when Lunarpal runs Monday in the $150,000 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, but the quality of his six opponents seems noticeably improved, meaning Lunarpal could be in for the most demanding test of his nascent career.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For a career debut, was nearly perfect in a five-furlong race at Hollywood Park on May 29.
She broke well, extended her lead around the turn, and pulled away to win by 10 lengths, finishing in a quick 56.51 seconds.
Monday, that form will be tested when My Miss Storm Cat makes her stakes debut in the $100,000 Landaluce Stakes at Hollywood Park. Run over six furlongs, the Grade 3 Landaluce is the season's first major stakes for 2-year-old fillies in California.
