Expect Will gave trainer Steve Asmussen his first win in the colts and geldings division of the $118,570 Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity on Saturday when he was up for a nose win in the race for 2-year-olds at Lone Star Park near Dallas.
Expect Will was one of six horses in the field trained by Asmussen. A seventh horse from the Asmussen barn, Robbeau, was scratched. Expect Wings finished second in the race, a half-length in front of third-place finisher Leaving On My Mind.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A week after Birdstone shocked the sports world by defeating Smarty Jones in the Belmont Stakes, another upset of monumental proportions took place Saturday in the $810,750 at Churchill Downs.
Colonial Colony, by far the longest shot in a field of six older horses after losing his 12 previous starts, nosed out favored Southern Image to win at 62-1 odds in the 23rd running of the Grade 1 Foster. He returned $127.20 to win and anchored several other huge mutuel prices, including a $2 pick four that paid $120,119.60.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Adoration received little respect when she won the Breeders' Cup Distaff last October at odds of over 40-1. More than seven months later, she continues to prove the betting public wrong.
Adoration won her second graded stakes of the year Saturday, winning the Grade 2, $439,200 at Churchill Downs as the third betting choice in the six-horse field.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The third time proved a charm Saturday for Prince Arch. Having finished second behind Kitten's Joy in two previous meetings, Prince Arch surged past his rival in the final yards to win the $226,200 on the Stephen Foster undercard at Churchill Downs.
Kitten's Joy, who had defeated Prince Arch in the Palm Beach Stakes and Crown Royal American Turf, appeared to be on his way to another victory in midstretch when he took control from Cool Conductor, but Prince Arch came flying to win by a head.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Sabiango, a multiple stakes winner in Germany in recent years, scored an upset in his first start of 2004 in Saturday's $350,000 at Hollywood Park.
The front-running Sabiango ran the 1 1/4 miles on turf in 2:01.51. He is owned by Monty Roberts, a horseman who became famous through the book and subsequent movie "The Horse Whisperer."
MIAMI - Monday's $40,000 Vague Memory, an overnight stakes for fillies and mares, will offer a final opportunity for several members of the field to earn starting berths on the rich Summit of Speed card on July 10. It will also mark the return of several talented young fillies, including the multiple stakes winner French Village.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Crozet ($6), a half-sister to local multiple stakes winner Lindsay Jean, sat back early and made an explosive move in the stretch to win the $79,950 Bay Meadows Oaks on Saturday.
Crozet sat comfortably behind the fast fractions of favored Kurlicue in the 1 1/16-mile turf race. She was fourth early, began to move up on the second turn, and had clear sailing when she shifted three wide.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - In the middle of last summer, the filly Chance Dance needed a break from racing, and when she came back last November, trainer Merrill Scherer entered her in a $30,000 conditioned claiming race. Saturday, eight starts later, Chance Dance became a stakes winner, hanging on for a narrow victory over Julie's Prize, the heavy favorite, in the Estrapade Handicap.
MIAMI - It took Ladyinareddress 1:48.75 to reach the finish line first in the $100,000 Office Queen Stakes at Calder. It took nearly another 20 minutes before the stewards finally made her victory official in a roughly run race that saw Tiz a Dancer clip heels and unseat jockey Abdiel Toribio in early stretch.
Native Heir set the pace in the two path and held on to win the $50,000 Punch Line for Virginia-bred or Virginia-sired horses at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va.
Satan's Code rated third for a half, moved to second in the stretch, and finished fast but lost by a length.
