ARCADIA, Calif. - Diplomatic Bag surprised trainer Bobby Frankel when he rallied from third to win the $150,000 , the day's third race.
"I didn't know that he had a turn of foot," said Frankel, who watched the race from Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
Throughout the 1 1/8 miles on turf, Frankel was concerned that jockey David Flores had left Diplomatic Bag with too much to do while stalking the pacesetter, Soud, and Statement, a stalker.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Peace Rules, who was a gritty winner of the New Orleans Handicap in February, turned in another game performance Saturday in the Grade 2, $500,000 , when he drove to a two-length win over Ole Faunty.
It was another neck back in third to pacesetter Saint Liam.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Madcap Escapade ran herself right into the Kentucky Oaks, turning back the first serious challenge of her still-perfect career in a half-length triumph in the $485,000 at Keeneland on Saturday.
After jockey Rene Douglas meted out her considerable speed, Madcap Escapade successfully held off a stretch bid from Ashado in making the first two-turn start of her career. Owned by Bruce Lunsford and trained by Frank Brothers, Madcap Escapade returned $3.40 as the heavy favorite in a field of four 3-year-old fillies.
STICKNEY, Ill. - He is rather small, with a pedigree more like a sprinter than a route horse. He does not even have a right eye. But Pollard's Vision is headed for the Kentucky Derby after winning the Grade 2, $500,000 on Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course.
And he did not even have to work especially hard to do so. With Suave taken out of the pace picture on the first turn, Pollard's Vision established a clear early lead, repelled a run from Song of the Sword coming into the stretch, and edged away late to post a 2 3/4-length win.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It was a happy homecoming for Funny Cide and his connections on Saturday at Aqueduct as last year's dual-classic winner and champion 3-year-old held off a late charge from Evening Attire to win the Grade 3, $200,000 by a half-length.
It was eight lengths back to Host in third. Ground Storm and Loving completed the order of finish.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In a spring in which it has become the norm to expect the unexpected, Saturday's $750,000 played true to form, such as it is. The unheralded Castledale, a turf specialist who had finished sixth in his only previous race on dirt, scored a 30-1 upset in the West Coast's Grade 1 prep for the May 1 Kentucky Derby.
Castledale, the second-longest shot on the board, outran six rivals, then survived both a stewards' inquiry and a rider's claim of foul.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Ralph Ziadie has won Grade 1 races with Sir Bear, Silver Wagon, and Trust N Luck. But he has never shown more emotion in the winner's circle than after his son Kirk sent out Kaufy Mate to post a convincing 4 1/2-length victory over Humorously in Saturday's $250,000 .
"I told you he was going to be even better than me," said the elder Ziadie, fighting back some tears. "He has done a great job with this horse."
CHICAGO - Christine Janks trains two of the eight fillies and mares in Hawthorne's featured eighth race Monday. She wonders if even that is enough.
"One of the owners was talking about who would run first and who would run second," Janks said. "I'm just hoping either one of them can win."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Azeri made a triumphant return to the races Saturday when, in her first start back from a six-month layoff, she won the Grade 1, $500,000 for a record third time. She wired an all-star field of fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile race, covering the distance in a razor-sharp 1:41.24.
It was the fastest Apple Blossom time turned in by Azeri. She won the race in 2001 in 1:42.60, and in 2002 in 1:43.
