ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Ten minutes after the Hanshin Handicap, a racetrack employee invited trainer Pete Vestal into one of Arlington Park's back rooms for a celebratory champagne toast.
"No thanks," Vestal demurred. "I've got to go look after my horse."
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Burning Roma held off a late charge from Remind to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Red Bank Handicap, the opening-day feature.
Burning Roma ($5.60) was the favorite in the crowd of 21,869 on a cool and clear afternoon on the Jersey Shore.
The highweight in a field of 11 at 120 pounds, Burning Roma stalked a brisk pace set by Wudantunoit.
"That's where we wanted him, a little bit off the pace," said trainer Heather Giglio. "We were happy with that."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Gonetorule ($4.80) sat behind a brisk pace duel between her stablemate Hippogator and A B Noodle and pulled away in the stretch to win the $58,175 Santa Clara Handicap.
A B Noodle set the pace with Hippogator just outside her in the one-mile race. A B Noodle began to pull clear of her pace rival midway around the second turn, but Gonetorule was just beginning to get into gear from the inside.
She made a strong move to pull alongside of A B Noodle and quickly took control, winning by four lengths in 1:34.94.
BENSALEM, Pa. - Perhaps he is a couple of seasons removed from his glory years, but give Peeping Tom the right conditions and the old guy can still get it done. In Saturday's $100,000 at Philadelphia Park, Peeping Tom, a 7-year-old gelding, took advantage of a contested early pace and rallied boldly to get up in the final strides and claim the Grade 3 sprint stakes.
MIAMI - Built Up is getting good again at the right time.
After going off form during the fall and early this winter, Built Up proved he's back on top of his game by drawing off to a 4 1/4-length victory over surprising favorite Weigelia in Saturday's $75,000 Ponche Handicap at Calder. Tour of the Cat, the 123-pound highweight, finished fourth in the scratch-reduced field of five.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Blonde Executive shook loose on the lead and never looked back to capture Saturday's $133,250 Lady Angela Stakes, a seven-furlong dash for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies.
Blonde Executive set fractions of 22.42 and 44.91 seconds under jockey Richard Dos Ramos, before opening up a substantial lead at the top of the stretch. She coasted home on top by 6 1/4 lengths in 1:22.97.
My Vintage Port rallied wide to finish second, and Ashlee's Bella closed for third in the eight-horse field.
Floater ($3) continued his dominance of the Ohio-bred 3-year-old ranks with a 1 1/2-length victory in the $45,000 Green Carpet Stakes at River Downs. The Green Carpet, originally scheduled for the turf, was run over a fast main track due to heavy midweek rains. The surface switch resulted in numerous scratches, including Tomboy Stakes winner Outrageous Queen.
The three longest shots in the six-horse field filled the top three spots in Saturday's $50,000 Skipat Stakes.
Love You Madly, at 10-1, defeated 11-1 Wallop by three-quarters of a length, with Leavn Ona Jetplane (15-1) another 1 1/2 lengths back in third in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares.
French Jeannette, the odds-on favorite, finished last.
Love You Madly, trained by Michael Trombetta and ridden by Jozbin Santana, paid $22.20 and keyed a $136 exacta and a $1,108 trifecta. She ran the six furlongs in 1:11.59.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Waupaca and Crowned King, both stakes winners on the local turf last year as 3-year-olds, square off in Monday's Barksdale Handicap.
They will share highweight honors of 117 pounds in the Barksdale, a 1 1/16-mile race that carries a $50,000 purse.
A pair of $40,000 turf stakes for 3-year-olds highlight the Memorial Day racing program at Indiana Downs. The one-mile Checkered Flag is for open company and the 7 1/2-furlong Governor's is for Indiana-breds.
Four of the six runners entered in the Checkered Flag come out of an allowance prep here on May 16, also at a mile over the turf course. In that race Cold Water went gate to wire, winning by 3 1/4 lengths at odds of 19-1 under Eddie Zuniga.
