OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Loving, a 7-year-old Brazilian-bred gelding who had one win in 30 months, dominated Saturday's $83,925 Gallant Fox Handicap, taking control at the three-eighths pole and rolling to a 7 3/4-length victory at Aqueduct.
Nothing Flat rallied from last to be second, 8 1/4 lengths ahead of Fisher Pond, who was third in this race for the second consecutive year. Tailfromthecrypt, the 5-2 favorite, was never involved and finished seventh in the 10-horse field.
NEW ORLEANS - Fair Grounds played the generous holiday host to trainer Donnie Von Hemel. Von Hemel came to town with a pair of grass horses he had been breezing on the Remington Park grass course, and left with a pair of stakes trophies.
Friday, Bedanken set a stakes record winning the Furl Sail Handicap, and on Saturday, Waupaca ran a brave race on the lead to win the $75,000 . Waupaca ($9.60) covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:44.33.
A horse who runs a big race returning from a long layoff often regresses next time out. That's not how Search for a Cure reacted, however.
Search for a Cure, who had been idle for more than seven months before winning an optional claiming race on Dec. 7, handled a rise in class to win Saturday's $50,000 Squan Song Stakes for Maryland-bred fillies and mares at Laurel Park.
Trainer Ronnie Allen continued to befuddle the bettors when Above the Wind posted an upset in the $60,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Above the Wind, the longest shot in a field of 13 that included an entry, returned $132.40 after turning back a determined bid from Secret Romeo to win by a length. The 6-year-old Above the Wind covered the six furlongs over a fast track in 1:10.89 while winning his 14th career race.
It was the second stakes upset of the meet for Allen, who sent out Tricks of Glory ($70) to take the Inaugural on opening day.
Crossing Point ($3) had little problem scoring a wire-to-wire, 4 3/4-length win in Friday night's $77,000 Christmas Stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack.
A 5-year-old trained by Ben Feliciano and ridden by Mario Pino, Crossing Point had most recently set the pace for the first half-mile in the Grade 1 De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel. It was Crossing Point's second stakes win in three visits to Mountaineer this season. He covered six furlongs over a track rated good in 1:13.23.
SUNLAND PARK, N. M. - Shemoveslikeaghost ($4.80) became the second two-time stakes winner of the meet Friday at Sunland Park when she captured the $131,600 La Coneja Handicap, a 5 1/2-furlong race restricted to New Mexico-bred 3-year-old fillies. The race was run in a terrible dust storm.
Trained by Fred Danley, Shemoveslikeaghost had previously upset older mares in the New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap on Nov. 30.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Gennadi Dorochenko goes into the final days of 2003 with hopes of setting a personal best for winners.
He currently stands ninth in the Golden Gate Fields trainer standings with 6 victories from 22 starts and needs only one victory in the final five racing days of 2003 to record his 15th training win of the year. His current total of 14 matches his previous high, set in 2001.
Dorochenko, 44, a native of Russia, came to the United States as a jockey in 1993. He enjoyed riding success in his native land and Poland.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It will be a blow to the California turf division if Redattore is retired to stud after the Grade 2 San Gabriel Handicap Sunday at Santa Anita. But it would also be a familiar paradox - the better the horse, the more valuable he becomes as a stallion prospect, and the less likely he will continue to race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If his feet aren't stinging him, Lord ofthe Thunder is the horse to beat in Sunday's $75,000-added Alex M. Robb Stakes at Aqueduct. If Lord ofthe Thunder isn't 100 percent, the last stakes run in New York in 2003 is up for grabs.
Lord ofthe Thunder, the 119-pound highweight, is among 13 New York-breds entered in the 1 1/16-mile Alex M. Robb. Arjay's Flag is an also-eligible.
NEW ORLEANS - The eight horses in Sunday's $60,000 Sugar Bowl Handicap at Fair Grounds last raced at six different tracks, and their form is the same way - all over the place. The Sugar Bowl is hard to sort out, but not the way the race shapes up. Wildcat Shoes has a high turn of foot and the rail, while Next Bandit has been the first-call leader in five of his six starts. They're headed the same place - straight to the front.
