ARCADIA, Calif. - Valentine Dancer rallied from eighth to score the first stakes win of her career in Sunday's $113,900 Harold Ramser Handicap at Santa Anita.
The victory occurred in Valentine Dancer's seventh appearance in a stakes. She had been second or third in three stakes since early July.
"She's already had a nice career," trainer Craig Lewis said. "I hope it continues."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Pheiffer ($17.40) took the lead out of the gate and held off the determined rally of odds-on favorite Lacie Girl by a nose after the two brushed near the 16th pole in the Charles H. Russell Handicap on Sunday at Bay Meadows.
Lacie Girl showed more speed than usual early but was three wide down the backstretch and around the turn of the six-furlong race. She challenged Pheiffer down the stretch, but each time she moved up, Pheiffer would repel the challenge. Pheiffer won by the narrowest of noses in 1:09.21.
FRESNO, Calif. - Odds-on favorite My Captain ($3.40) scored his third straight stakes victory, capturing the $50,600 Bull Dog Handicap at the Big Fresno Fair on Sunday.
Just as he had done in winning the Ernest Finley at Santa Rosa and the Big Jag at Bay Meadows, My Captain sat just off the pace down the backstretch before unleashing a strong closing kick.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - My Vintage Port ($19.20) parlayed an ideal stalking trip into a daylight victory in the $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes for 2-year-olds fillies at Woodbine Sunday.
Dream About, the 1-5 favorite, finished a well-beaten fourth in the mile and a sixteenth event, which had no show wagering. With the bulk of the place pool riding on Dream About, My Vintage Port returned a fat $21 to place, while runner-up Silver Bird paid $14 to place.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, who won 8,833 races and four Kentucky Derbys, died early Sunday at his home in nearby San Marino. He was 72.
Friends of Shoemaker said he died in his sleep.
Shoemaker won more than 1,000 stakes, and 42 riding titles at Southern California tracks. He held the record as world's winningest rider for 29 years, surpassing John Longden with his 6,033th winner in 1970. He lost the mark to Laffit Pincay, Jr., in late 1999.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Sunday's nine-race program at Santa Anita will feature a pick six carryover of $132,847, only the second carryover of the Oak Tree meeting that began on Sept. 28.
Sunday's pick six covers the fourth through ninth races, featuring five races on dirt and the $100,000 Harold Ramser Handicap over a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies.
The fourth race is run over a mile for 3-year-old $14,000 to $16,000 claimers. Mist of the Empire is the 3-1 morning line favorite in a field of nine.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Frisco Belle ($7.40), a runner-up in three of her previous four stakes starts, launched a strong rally on the second turn and powered to victory in the $74,100 Palo Alto Handicap at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Frisco Belle sat off Watch Out World's fast pace in the one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. She got a ground-saving trip early, slipped between horses on the second turn then eased out into the lane before outkicking Watch Out World and Midnight Rhapsody. She defeated Watch Out World by two lengths, winning in 1:36.47.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - White Star runs some of his biggest races during the annual Breeders' Festival of statebred stakes at Louisiana Downs and Saturday was no exception as he rolled to an explosive, two and three-quarter length win over Jay's Buddy Bob in the featured $82,500 Shiskabob.
The race was one of 12 statebred stakes on the Breeders' Festival card, which was worth more than $600,000. In all, eight stakes for Thoroughbreds were decided, while the remaining four races were dedicated to Quarter Horses.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Added Edge, who had Kentucky Derby aspirations early in the year, will try to get back into the winner's circle Monday at Woodbine in the $159,900 Ontario Derby, formerly the Col. R.S. McLaughlin Handicap.
Mobil, one of four other 3-year-olds in the 1 1/8-mile race, will vault over the $1 million mark in career earnings with a victory. Also on the card is the $168,000 Carotene Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Film Maker was up in the final stride to hang a narrow defeat on front-running Maiden Tower in a thrilling 20th running of the $500,000 at Keeneland on Saturday.
Film Maker, ridden by Edgar Prado, returned $25.20 to win as eighth choice in a field of 10 3-year-old fillies. The stewards called an inquiry into the stretch duel between the top two finishers but allowed the original results to stand.
"There was a little contact, but the other horse, I thought, made the initial contact," said Prado. "The stewards made the right decision."
