LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With one allowance win in four races since winning the Grade 1 Test Stakes last July, Lady Tak entered Saturday's $108,600 at Churchill Downs with questionable form.
Consider her back on her game. She won the six-furlong Winning Colors in 1:08.87, winning by three-quarters of a length over multiple stakes winner Put Me In.
MIAMI - Wire Bound was a useful sprinter on dirt, but since being switched to the grass by trainer Manny Criollo earlier this spring the 3-year-old gelding has not only handled two turns like an old pro, he has quickly become a stakes winner. Saturday at Calder, he rallied to an easy 2 3/4-length victory over Gin Rummy Champ in the $75,000 Simply Majestic Stakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Judiths Wild Rush rediscovered his championship form at Woodbine, going wire to wire to capture the Grade 3, $164,100 .
Canada's champion 2-year-old gelding after going undefeated in three local outings last year, Judiths Wild Rush had gone on to disappoint in two starts in the United States and was making his first appearance since finishing a well-beaten sixth in the seven-furlong Bay Shore at Aqueduct on April 10.
"He's definitely a horse for the course," said Scott Fairlie, who trains Judiths Wild Rush for owner Harvey Tenenbaum.
Governor's Pride ($51.80) hadn't raced on grass since August 2002, but he clearly remembers how to run on the surface.
A 7-year-old gelding trained by Tim Ritchey, Governor's Pride outdueled the 6-5 favorite, Take Achance on Me, by a nose to win the $50,000 Ben Cohen Stakes at Pimlico. He ran the five furlongs on firm turf in 56.32 seconds
Misty Sixes ($3.20), ridden by Mario Pino, took the lead with three furlongs remaining and drew clear to a two-length victory in the $52,700 Summer King Stakes at Delaware Park.
A 6-year-old mare trained by Steve Klesaris, Misty Sixes covered 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:45.51. Previously unbeaten Gelli, who had won her first five career starts in Maryland, finished second.
The next likely spot for Misty Sixes, who has now won 8 of 20 career starts, is the $100,000 Obeah Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race, on June 19.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Mercer's Launch took the lead just after a quarter-mile and widened it out to a handy 4 1/2-length victory over seven Ohio-bred female rivals in the the $40,000, six-furlong Brent's Princess Stakes.
Kiosk rallied through the stretch to to be second best, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Nachen.
Mercer's Launch, a homebred 5-year-old daughter of Mercer Mill, is owned by Scioto Farm Supply Inc., trained by Albert Palacios, and was ridden by Hector Rosario, Jr. She covered the six furlongs in 1:11.66 over the fast racing strip and returned $5 as the favorite.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Francine Villeneuve, the leading female rider in Canadian racing history, is this year's recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award.
The Gomez Award is awarded annually to a jockey who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or has ridden regularly in Canada for more than five years.
The award will be presented on Labatt Woodbine Oaks Day, June 13. Avelino Gomez, one of Canada's most famous jockeys, died following a spill in the 1980 Oaks.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - One for Rose, last year's champion older filly or mare in Canada, will take on males following a six-month layoff in Monday's $163,350 Eclipse Handicap at Woodbine.
The Eclipse is the feature on Monday's nine-race Victoria Day program.
CALGARY, Alberta - A Shaky Start and Raylene renew their rivalry here Monday afternoon in the Ken Pearson Memorial, a $40,000 handicap that drew just four fillies and mares.
The short field can be attributed to the reputations of the pair of 4-year-old fillies, who dominated their division last year and opened up this year's campaign by running one-two in the M.R. Jenkins Memorial over a muddy surface May 9.
A Shaky Start captured the six-furlong Jenkins by slipping through along the rail at the quarter pole and opening up a clear advantage turning for home.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lord Samarai is the lone stakes winner entered in the $40,000 City of Vancouver Stakes on Monday at Hastings, and, as the 122-pound highweight in the 6 1/2-furlong race, he is a deserving favorite over six other 3-year-olds.