ALBANY, Calif. - Buddy Gil ($16.60), sitting closer to the pace than expected, won the $65,600 Golden Bear Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday, providing jockey Omar Figueroa with his first stakes victory.
Buddy Gil, who won a one-mile maiden race in his previous start, wore down early leaders Gray Jag and Timely Jeff to win the six-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds by 7.5 lengths. The winning time was 1:10.64.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Brattothecore mowed down the dueling favorites in the stretch under Jake Barton to post a mild upset in Sunday's $160,200 Ontario Lassie Stakes at Woodbine.
Brattothecore, who had won her only previous race in a $62,500 sprint, raced five lengths off the early pace in the mile and a sixteenth event for 2-year-old fillies. Favored Santerra and Deputy Cures Blues battled through rapid fractions, before Brattothecore commenced her rally on the far turn.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cee's Elegance broke an 11-race losing streak to win her first stakes in Sunday's $107,400 Cat's Cradle Handicap for California-bred fillies and mares at Hollywood Park.
Sent off at 5-1, Cee's Elegance had an ideal trip under jockey Victor Espinoza, a replacement for David Flores, who was late returning from a weekend in Japan.
Cee's Elegance ($13.40) chased pacesetter Hadl on the backstretch, took the lead on the turn and pulled clear to win by four lengths.
MIAMI, Fla. - Jockey Cornelio Velasquez tied a Tropical at Calder record by winning six races on Sunday's program.
Velasquez joined Jacinto Vasquez, Rene Douglas and Javier Castellano, all of whom won six races on a single card during the Tropical meet.
Saturday afternoon's $50,000-added KLAQ Handicap looked like a good race on paper and the results were not disappointing. Abajo, the 3-2 favorite with Garrett Gomez up, bid along the rail late on the turn and opened a seemingly insurmountable lead by midstretch. However, Ricardo Jaime, aboard American Pastime, was just getting his mount rolling. Jaime had moved up from well off the rail on the turn but saw an opening toward the inside nearing the stretch and went for it.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A vacation and a move to longer races has rejuvenated the career of Sligo Bay.
Sligo Bay ended an eight-race losing streak in an allowance race last month at Santa Anita, his first start in four months. On Sunday, he stamped himself as a horse to follow in distance turf stakes with a convincing win in the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, his first score in a Grade 1 race.
ALBANY, Calif. - Global Finance ($13.40), who won the Bam's Penny Stakes in her previous start, rallied from off the pace to win the $71,000 Piedmont Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In what amounted to little more than a public workout, Evening Attire cruised to an eight-length victory in Saturday's $150,000 before a crowd of 5,736 at blustery Aqueduct.
Fisher Pond overtook pacemaker Pleasant Breeze to get second by one length. Polish Miner, Classic Par, and Chasin' Wimmin completed the order of finish.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Quick Tip cruised into contention on the final bend, put away favored Bien Nicole, and then held off a late bid from San Dare to win the 29th running of the $173,100 at Churchill Downs Saturday.
Ridden by Robby Albarado, Quick Tip was seventh in the early running of the 1 1/8-mile Cardinal before she began picking off rivals down the backstretch. With a quarter-mile to run, she was poised outside of front-runners Bien Nicole and Town Queen, then spurted clear in midstretch after Albarado put her to a drive.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The frustration of Hot Market's troubled loss in the $250,000 California Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 was replaced on Saturday by a flawless performance in the $107,700 On Trust Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Of course, the first-place purse in the On Trust wasn't as lucrative as the Cal Cup, but the win gave Hot Market his first success in a stakes. The win also allowed trainer Craig Lewis to dream of richer stakes in coming months.
