SALEM, N.H. - Amid speculation that this will be the final season at Rockingham Park, the track closed its 2002 meet with marginal increases in total handle but declines in attendance.
Rockingham's average daily handle for the 75-day meet was $561,000 - up less than 1 point from 2001. Ontrack handle slipped nearly 8 percent, but offtrack handle for the meet rose 5 percent. Average attendance slipped 5 percent to 2,772.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Grand, a 2-year-old colt who was purchased by Barry Irwin of Team Valor Stable after a 23-length win on the dirt at Wolverhampton, England, on Sept. 7, is slated to make his next start at Woodbine in the Grade 2 Grey Stakes on Oct. 6.
"If he pulls off the Grey Stakes, we'll supplement him to the Breeders' Cup," said Irwin, who was at Woodbine on Sunday to watch Added Edge, an undefeated 2-year-old in whom he owns a controlling interest, win the Swynford Stakes.
POMONA, Calif. - Taliano, who ran last in his debut on Aug. 31, improved a lot in his second start, scoring a $17.80 upset in the $100,000 Barretts Juvenile. Ridden by Danny Sorenson in the stakes restricted to 2-year-old colts and geldings offered for sale at Barretts, Taliano won by three lengths over even-money favorite Elan.
Taliano was purchased for $52,000 at the May sale of 2-year-olds in training. Charmer Baron finished third in the field of five.
Robin Zee ($12.40) drew off through the stretch for an easy four-length score in the $75,000 Prairie Meadows Derby.
The 9-5 favorite, Cowboy Stuff, set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile event, clocking a half-mile in 46.90 seconds. Robin Zee, trained by Jimmy Zook, moved up to challenge on the last turn before drawing away for the biggest score of his career, clocking the distance in 1:48.42.
Cowboy Stuff held second, three lengths clear of Windward Passage, who rallied for third.
POMONA, Calif. - Last Kiss gave jockey Tyler Baze his fourth of five winners on the Fairplex Park card with a 1 1/4-length upset in the $106,500 Barretts Debutante.
For Last Kiss, a California-bred filly by Slew's Royalty, it was her first victory in three starts. Purchased for $17,000 at the Barretts May Sale of 2-year-olds in training, Last Kiss earned $56,430 to increase her earnings to $69,250. She is trained by Bill Spawr.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The Monday weather at Arlington Park was crisper than Macho Uno's five-furlong work here, but trainer Joe Orseno said the goal of Macho Uno's breeze was not to light up stopwatches, but to show that he is fit enough to start Sunday in the Washington Park Handicap. And after seeing his star return to the barn following the work, Orseno said Macho Uno was on target for the Grade 2 Washington Park, his Breeders' Cup Classic prep.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - This is the summer of Calabrese, Catalano, and Leving, three guys who have grabbed the Arlington meet, shaking down wins like falling fruit.
Theirs is a tightrope act with a potentially volatile mix of personalities, but it is working.
BALTIMORE - Trainer Tim Ritchey won the Maryland Million Classic last fall with a 30-1 longshot named Sumerset, then lost control of the horse this year after a falling out with the owners. Yet, when the flashbulbs popped after Saturday's Classic at Pimlico, there was Ritchey again, smiling and holding the winner's trophy after Docent's charge from seventh place to the winner's circle.
SAN MATEO, Calif. ? Things didn't go right at the start for World Light ($8.80), but he was able to rally off the pace to defeat Marcutio by one length to win the $68,450 Half Moon Bay Handicap at Bay Meadows on Sunday.
Jockey Ron Warren Jr. said he was told to put World Light into contention early but got pinched back in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
"They were going too fast so I didn't want to ask him to keep up because there would be no way he'd be able to finish so I just waited," Warren said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Finality, a tough-luck second in a pair of graded stakes earlier this summer, finally broke through Sunday at Belmont Park, coming from slightly off the pace under John Velazquez to win the $200,000, Grade 2 by a length over the pace-setting Union Place.
Chiselling, the 2-1 favorite who was boxed in along the rail, got up for third, a neck in front of Macaw.