SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Strong Hope announced his presence as a factor in the 3-year-old division Sunday by taking command entering the first turn and holding off a hard-charging Empire Maker at the wire to win the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy by a neck at Saratoga.
It was 2 1-2 lengths back to Congrats in third. Tafaseel, Nacheezmo and During completed the order of finish before an announced crowd of 65,346 on T-Shirt Day at Saratoga.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Peace Rules on Sunday morning came down the New York Thruway from Saratoga, crossed over to the Garden State Parkway, arrived at Monmouth Park, and then Sunday afternoon kept right on motoring, leading from start to finish to capture the $1.1 million .
Peace Rules won by 1 3/4 lengths over Sky Mesa, with Funny Cide, the wagering and sentimental favorite of the record Monmouth crowd of 53,638, checking in a distant third, some 7 1/4 lengths behind Sky Mesa in an uncharacteristically dull performance.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. ? Cappuchino ($9), who had been sprinting against better, scored a wire-to-wire victory in the $101,000 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair on Saturday.
"That's the way he wants to run," trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's assistant Joe Jacot said. "If they weren't quarter horsing out of there, we wanted to be on the lead."
Cappuchino, who chased Aldebaran in Kentucky and Joey Franco in Southern California in his past three starts, made the lead over Hoovergetthekeys and set a comfortable pace in the 1 1/16-mile race.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Katdogawn benefited from a perfect trip under Julie Krone to win her first graded stakes in Saturday's $150,000 at Del Mar.
Katdogawn ($12.20) finished a mile on turf in 1:33.62, setting a stakes record in the Grade 2 San Clemente.
"It was all her and as push-button as it looked," Krone said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Zavata, who rose and then fell from grace during the 2002 Saratoga meeting, made a triumphant return to the Spa, registering an emphatic 5 1/4-length victory over Great Notion in the $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes. Posse, the even-money favorite, finished fourth in a field of seven 3-year-olds.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Saturday was Whitney day at Saratoga, so it was only appropriate that owner-breeder Marylou Whitney would win Saturday's fourth race with her homebred Birdstone.
Birdstone, a 2-year-old son of Grindstone and Dear Birdie, was nothing short of sensational in his career debut, drawing off to a 12 1/2-length victory under jockey Edgar Prado. Birdstone is a half-brother to the Whitney Stable's Grade 1 winner Bird Town.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Barbeau Ruckus will be seeking his third straight stakes score as he heads a field of five here at Fort Erie in Monday's Cool Reception, the second of two $60,000, 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up on the holiday program.
Barbeau Ruckus, a 4-year-old, finished second to the tough Mulligan the Great in a $100,000, seven-furlong optional claimer at Woodbine in his season opener May 3.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Bobby Frankel, the trainer of Medaglia d'Oro, felt Phil Johnson, the trainer of Volponi, disrespected his horse with comments he made prior to the running of Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney Handicap. But instead of firing back verbally, Frankel elected to let his horse do the talking.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The induction of Sonny Hine into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Monday is a tribute to a training career that lasted more than four decades. As far as Carolyn Hine - Sonny's wife - is concerned, it's a tribute to a lifetime spent in the Thoroughbred industry.
"He gave his life for this industry,' said Carolyn Hine, who was married to Sonny for 38 years before his death on March 17, 2000. "That's why I wanted this so much for him. It's payback. Sonny didn't want the accolades; he wanted everything for his horses and for me.''
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Seeking the Ring and Brattothecore dead-heated for the win in the Bison City Stakes at Fort Erie, but the result could be much different Monday at Woodbine, when they both try the turf for the first time in the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, final leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara.
The Wonder Where is joined on Monday's holiday program by the $131,125 Victoriana Stakes, a turf race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.
