ALBANY, Calif. - El Dorado Shooter is due to return to the track this week for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove a minor chip from an ankle last spring. The nominal sprint king of northern California, El Dorado Shooter holds the Golden Gate Fields track record at six furlongs (1:07.55) and was the Bay Meadows sprinter of the year for 2003.
But his crown does not rest easy.
He returns to what may be the deepest sprint division ever in northern California.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Comic Truth gave his connections a lot of firsts on Sunday when he stormed to a 10-length win over odds-on favorite Excessivepleasure in the Grade 3, $160,700 at Remington Park. It was another two and a quarter lengths back in third to Morning Merry.
Comic Truth's win was the first stakes victory for his trainer, Patrick Daly; the first graded win for his sire, Proudest Romeo; and the first Oklahoma Derby win for eight-time Remington riding champ Cliff Berry.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Foiled in three consecutive Grade 1 races, Victory U.S.A. ($2.40) responded to a drop in class Sunday at Hollywood Park, where she won the $100,000 by seven lengths. More important, the 2-year-old filly did it the way trainer Bob Baffert hoped, rallying from behind and looking like a genuine contender for the Grade 1, mile and a sixteenth Hollywood Starlet on Dec. 21.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - 2003 could have been a rebuilding year for trainer Ken McPeek. Stable star Repent was retired in February, and Harlan's Holiday and Sarava - two horses he trained to Grade 1 victories - were transferred to other trainers last year.
Even following their departures, McPeek continues to produce. On Sunday he won another important stakes race, winning the Grade 3, $172,800 with Hard Buck, a horse he began training after the horse was shipped to America from Brazil.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - One furlong at a time, Lion Heart has emerged as the fastest 2-year-old in California. Three weeks after dominating maidens at six furlongs, Lion Heart ($3) stretched out to seven furlongs Saturday at Hollywood Park and blazed to a six-length win in the Grade 3 .
OKLAHOMA CITY - Captain's Daughter was an explosive, six and a quarter length winner of the $39,500 on a foggy Saturday night at Remington Park. Chitchat Chitchat finished second, a nose in front of Are You Home.
Captain's Daughter($17.80) settled well back early in the one-mile turf race, and mounted a strong bid through the stretch to run down Chitchat Chitchat. She covered the distance over a course rated good in 1:38.91. Nena Matz rode the winner for trainer Rick Engel.
Zarb's Luck was able to stretch his speed around two turns to win Saturday night's $100,000 at Delta Downs by a neck over Spritely Walker. It was another length and three quarters back in third to Pink Duck.
Zarb's Luck($8.40) has recorded his biggest wins around one turn, but he was effective around two in the one-mile Gold Cup, when he led throughout. Ridden by Guy Smith, he covered the distance in 1:38.72.
America America defeated male rivals in the $150,000 on Saturday night in one of several upsets on the Texas Champions Day card at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
The program featured worth $550,000, with all of the races except the Juvenile restricted to horses bred in Texas.
LAUREL, Md. - The mad genius struck again.
Trainer Michael Dickinson, who won the 1998 Breeders' Cup Mile with Da Hoss having made only one start in two years, did that feat one better Saturday, winning the Grade 1, $300,000 at Laurel Park with A Huevo, who had made just two starts in four years before Saturday.
