MIAMI - Sir Oscar worked a mile in 1:47.40 here Saturday morning as he continues to prepare for the $400,000 In Reality Division of the Florida Stallion Stakes on Oct. 11.
Sir Oscar will bid to become the fifth horse to sweep the open division of the Stallion Stakes when he goes off as the favorite in the In Reality. Sir Oscar has won all four of his starts, including the six-furlong Dr. Fager and seven-furlong Affirmed divisions of the Stallion Stakes.
If a filly such as Awesome Humor, Smok'n Frolic, or You showed up at Mountaineer Race Track for a stakes race against locally based horses, any one of them would be an odds-on favorite.
The same can be said for So Much More, a Kentucky-based filly who has been competitive this summer facing Awesome Humor, Smok'n Frolic, and You in graded stakes events.
So Much More, trained by Niall O'Callaghan, is clearly the horse to beat in Tuesday night's $75,000 Autumn Leaves Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares at Mountaineer.
Derrianne must have felt right at home racing over a turf course that was less than firm.
An Irish-bred 3-year-old filly who raced exclusively in France for the first seven starts of her career, including four tries over courses rated yielding or soft, Derrianne ($5.20) relished the "good" surface at Pimlico Saturday as she drew off to a 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $147,000 Martha Washington Breeders' Cup.
Wet weather again foiled Delaware Park's plans to promote the Caesar Rodney Handicap for graded status.
Postponed a week ago by rain, the $194,000 Rodney was rescheduled, only to be moved from the turf to a sloppy main track. Seven of the 11 horses scratched, leaving 4-year-old Private Lap ($3.80) alone on the lead enroute to a 2 3/4-length victory over late closer Changeintheweather. The time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.89.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Willow Bunch ($5.10) made all the running over a sloppy track in the $162,375 La Lorgnette Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
Willow Bunch set fractions of 24.42 and 48.90 seconds while running in the two-path under jockey Patrick Husbands. The favorite, One Only Knows, pressed the pace along the rail, and was angled into the three-path heading into the far turn.
Feisty Bull ($9) shot to the lead under Carlos Lopez and never looked back, winning the $50,000 Navajo Princess for 3-year-old fillies at Monmouth Park by 3 1/4 lengths over runner-up 26-1 shot Nault.
Feisty Bull, who came into the race off a similar front-running win in the $50,000 Twin Lights on Aug. 16, covered the 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:45.23. The Michael W. Dickinson-trained odds-on favored entry of Kosade (sixth) and Sarie Marais (ninth) never threatened.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, on Tuesday gave the Solano County Fair Board permission to enter negotiations with the Mills Corporation to develop its property.
Kim Myrman, general manager of the Solano County Fair, said that racing would continue there for two or three years. Myrman said the board and Mills would enter the first step of negotiations to draw up a memorandum of intent, which would cover responsibilities, expectations, and a time frame for potential development.
ARCADIA, Calif. - As first impressions go, this is as good as it gets.
Santa Anita's Oak Tree Racing Association, which will play host to the 20th Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships on Oct. 25, opens its 32-day meeting on Sunday with four graded stakes races that feature the current favorites for three Breeders' Cup races, including the First Lady of California racing, 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In her debut, she swooped past the field and drew clear. In her next start, she came through the inside without flinching. Two starts into her career, Halfbridled has scored two runaway victories while displaying a level of maturity that California's gubernatorial candidates would be wise to emulate.
As such, Halfbridled is ranked at the top of the 2-year-old filly division, and has been compared, both in performance and physical presence, to former champion Phone Chatter.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In the wrong fashion, Storming Home introduced himself to the American sporting public in August when he veered out sharply in the final strides of the Arlington Million and unseated jockey Gary Stevens.
The incident made national news because Stevens, a star in the movie "Seabiscuit," suffered a collapsed lung that left him sidelined for nearly three weeks.
Storming Home was disqualified from first to fourth, his first loss in the United States after two stakes wins at Hollywood Park in the spring.
