Capejinsky had nowhere to run for the first six furlongs of the one-mile Dover Stakes at Delaware Park. Once a hole opened on the rail, however, Capejinsky was long gone.
One of only two horses in a field of eight 2-year-old colts who had raced beyond six furlongs, Capejinsky ($7.20) displayed his superiority in the stretch by drawing off to a 4 3/4-length win in the $100,000 Dover. He covered the distance over a fast track in 1:39.44.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Jerry McArthur isn't sure if he's an overnight sensation, enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, or simply on a roll, but Bay Meadows' hottest trainer is enjoying life these days.
He's started eight horses at the meeting and won five times. When he poses for pictures in the winner's circle now, track announcer Tony Calo tells race fans that the "General" has returned to the winner's circle.
"I don't know where he came up with that," McArthur said, "but now everyone gives me grief about it and calls me 'General.' "
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Alpha Saphire, winner of the Wonder Where here at Woodbine on Aug. 4, appears to have located a very favorable scenario in Monday's $168,000 Carotene Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Alpha Saphire, owned by Stronach Stable and trained by Malcolm Pierce, captured her first stakes in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where, the final leg of Canada's triple tiara.
STICKNEY, Ill. - The 2-year-old colt Cactus Ridge left his connections enthused with a half-mile work Saturday at Hawthorne, his penultimate breeze before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Working by himself, with his race-rider Eddie Martin in the irons, Cactus Ridge was officially timed in 49.40 seconds for a half-mile, though his trainer, Bret Calhoun, said Cactus Ridge worked five furlongs in just over 1:02. Calhoun sent Cactus Ridge to the track just after training began at 6 a.m. in order, he said, "to get the tightest track possible."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Anyone who has watched Bauhauser in any of her three races in the United States probably couldn't help but notice the way the gray mare appears to dig down and give every ounce of possible effort.
"That's the one thing that was very evident about her when I first got her," said Steve Asmussen, who began training Bauhauser for Bill Heiligbrodt and Johnny Jones in April. "She's a professional racehorse. She absolutely knows how to run."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Feline Story lost as the favorite when she was stretched out to a mile in the Grade 1 Matron. She is back doing what she does best - sprinting - in Sunday's $150,0000 Astarita at Belmont Park.
The Grade 2 Astarita, a 6 1/2-furlong race, drew nine 2-year-old fillies.
The last three winners of the Astarita - Xtra Heat, Bella Bellucci, and Humorous Lady - ran back in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Bella Bellucci had the best Breeders' Cup effort of the three, with a third-place finish in 2001.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Cowdin Stakes, run on Sunday at Belmont Park, lost its grade for this year's running and its purse was dropped from $100,000 to $75,000. Its decreased status was reflected in the embarrassingly small number of 2-year-olds entered in the race on Friday.
Only three of the 18 nominees, Lissau, Boston Brahmin, and Smokume, passed the entry box for the 6 1/2-furlong stakes. Because of the size of the field, the Cowdin will be run as the third race, with win betting only. The racing office also added another race to what was originally intended to be a 10-race card.
Yell, competing outside of Grade 1 company for the first time since February, asserted her class Friday at Keeneland when she surged to victory in the Grade 3, $174,450 Raven Run Stakes.
Trained by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Pat Day, Yell drew clear in deep stretch of the seven-furlong Raven Run to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Ebony Breeze. Tina Bull, who led most of the way, finished another three-quarters of a length back in third in the field of 12 3-year-old fillies.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The disappointment of Ruler's Court's withdrawal from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Oct. 25 did not linger for jockey Alex Solis.
Thursday, owner Sheikh Mohammed pulled Ruler's Court from the Juvenile even though Ruler's Court would have been a top contender following a 14-length win of the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 5.
