ALBANY, Calif. - Spensive ($4.40) got the lead in the stretch, was passed by Always Remember but re-rallied under Julie Krone to win the $81,075 Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.
Krone, who won the Vernon Underwood by Debonair Joe one week earlier for his first stakes victory since returning to riding after a 3.5-year retirement, nursed Spensive to victory in the one-mile race. The winning time on a sloppy track was 1:38.32.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Elloluv, a maiden winner making her stakes debut, pulled a shocking upset in Saturday's $356,500 at Hollywood Park, beating Composure, one of the top-ranked 2-year-old fillies in the nation.
Elloluv ($63.60) led throughout the 1 1/16 miles, finishing in 1:42.88. Composure, who finished second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Arlington Park in October, reached contention in early stretch, but never threatened the winner and finished second.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Dat You Miz Blue soundly defeated odds-on Xtra Heat in Saturday's $81,650 Garland of Roses Handicap for fillies and mares at Aqueduct.
Dat You Miz Blue blew by Xtra Heat, the 3-5 favorite in the five-horse field, around the far turn and motored home through the mud, a 2 1/4-length winner. Xtra Heat was 5 3/4 lengths clear of the third-place finisher, Belle Artiste, in the six-furlong race.
MIAMI - Trainer Ralph Ziadie predicted "they would not beat" Trust N Luck if the colt made the lead in the $100,000, 1 1/16-mile What a Pleasure Stakes. Ziadie was good to his word as Trust N Luck led throughout en route to a smashing 11-length victory in the final stakes race for 2-year-olds at Calder this season.
The winner's final time of 1:44.07 shattered the stakes record of 1:45.20 set by 1990 Kentucky Derby winner and 3-year-old champion Unbridled in 1989.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - While Tampa Bay Downs's opening weekend was a washout, the $50,000 Inaugural Stakes lives on and has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
The six-furlong Inaugural has drawn a bulky field of 14 2-year-olds and should offer good betting value as the entrants are coming off starts at 10 different tracks - from Great Lakes Downs to Saratoga.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Victor Carrero, who was taken to North Shore University Hospital complaining of pain in his right ankle after his mount in Saturday's opener at Aqueduct, Big Ide, acted up in the gate, was not seriously injured and was released later in the day.
Carrero's agent, Jose Morales, said that the rider had no broken bones and would be able to ride in a couple of days.
Martha's Music finished strongly from well out in the track to win Saturday's Grade 3 Anne Arundel Stakes at Laurel Race Course by three-quarters of a length.
Jockey Stewart Elliott was patient aboard Martha's Music while racing in fifth early as 18-1 Pass the Virtue and 19-1 Shop Till You Drop opened up a long lead over the rest of the field. The leaders began to come back to the field nearing the stretch, and it was Martha's Music who emerged from the pack with the best late bid. Martha's Music covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.84 over a good track and paid $22.
NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana Champions Day Classic shaped up a match race, but one of the duelers failed to fire. Favored Walk in the Snow ran hard in the stretch to post a 2 1/4-length win, but defending champion Oak Hall lost his position a half-mile from the finish and checked in fourth.
The $150,000 Classic capped a great year for Walk in the Snow ($3.40) and another successful Champions Day for Fair Grounds, which drew a crowd of 4,147 for a 10-stakes program run on a lovely afternoon.
NEW ORLEANS - He beat only Louisiana-breds Saturday, but Meteor Impact may not need restricted company to be a stakes horse next year at age 3. With a powerful run from the three-eighths pole to the wire, Meteor Impact won the $100,000 Juvenile by six lengths under Calvin Borel, the all-time leader in Champions Day wins.
