SAN MATEO, Calif. - Ninebanks ($8.80) sat in perfect stalking position while a bit wide down the backstretch, stayed in the clear and was a 1 1/2-length winner of the $53,700 San Matean Handicap at the Bay Meadows Fair on Sunday.
Ninebanks sat behind Dr. Park and Suspicious Minds early and let Suspicious Minds take over in the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile turf race before jockey Ron Warren turned him loose. He rallied well, beating Suspicious Minds by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:42.10.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wando established himself as the leading Woodbine-based Canadian-bred 2-year-old with a runaway victory in Sunday's $164,550 Vandal Stakes.
Wando dueled with Biddy's Lad through splits of :22.29 seconds and :45.72 in the six-furlong dash, which was pared down to a four-horse field with the scratches of Frankiefourfinger, Goldies Legacy, Magic Jack and Mr. Believable.
Wando kicked clear at the head of the stretch, and drew off for a 7-3/4-length score in a time of 1:11.90 seconds. Snake Pit finished second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Shipman.
Bossier City, La - The stakes wins keep coming for leading trainer Cole Norman as Kenneth Murphy's That Tat kicked down pacesetter Honor Me to capture Sunday's $40,000 Folklore Handicap. Unrullah Bull, also trained by Norman, finished third followed by 6-5 favorite Boots On Sunday who pressured Honor
Me through a quick opening half mile of :44.56 before faltering down the lane. The Folklore was Norman's sixth stakes win through 31 days of racing.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Gary Biszantz, the chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, targeted veterinarians for administering unnecessary medications to horses and called for the racing industry "to go back to thinking that the horse, safety and fairness is more important" then medication during a speech Sunday at the Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing at the Sheraton Hotel in Saratoga Springs.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - You, the five-time Grade 1 winner who finished third in Saturday's Alabama Stakes, will not race again this year, trainer Bobby Frankel said Sunday morning. She will return as a 4-year-old, most likely starting her campaign at the Belmont Park spring meet of 2003.
Frankel said there was nothing physically wrong with You, but he doesn't believe his filly could unseat Kentucky Oaks and Alabama winner Farda Amiga for the Eclipse Award as the 3-year-old filly champion.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Inesperado maintained his unbeaten record in the U.S. with a victory in Saturday's $150,000 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar.
Inesperado ($6.40) ran 1 1-16 miles on turf in 1:43.92 and had an ideal trip under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye.
Inesperado stalked pacesetter Regiment through a slow pace of 25.16 and 50.87 seconds. Delahoussaye urged Inesperado into a challenging position on the final turn, took the lead in early stretch and won by two lengths over Regiment, the even-money favorite.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Stakes-winning 3-year-old filly A B Noodle ($8) won the $42,720 Lady Morvich Handicap at the Bay Meadows Fair on Saturday in her first race against older.
A B Noodle set the pace in the 1 1/16-mile turf race before Lindsay Jean stuck her head in front inside the eighth pole. A B Noodle then re-rallied to win by a head in 1:43.06.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The big horse isn't just gifted, he's brave. Beat Hollow dug down deep and won a thrilling Arlington Million, passing Forbidden Apple in the final yards while holding off a desperate rally from his archrival, Sarafan.
Beat Hollow's winning margin was a head in the most contentious Arlington Million ever. Sarafan won the place by a nose over Forbidden Apple, with just more than a length separating the first six finishers in the race.
"Thank God I won," said trainer Bobby Frankel. "I've lost a few like this."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A pair of contentious allowance races scheduled for the turf serve as Monday's co-featured events at Saratoga as Travers week starts with a stakes-less nine-race card.
The sixth race, at a mile on the inner turf, drew a field of six, plus one main-track only entrant (Critical Eye).
Trainer Christophe Clement sends out the probable favorite in Step With Style, who drops into allowance company for the first time in more than a year. She comes out of a third-place finish in the Rockingham Breeders' Cup Handicap, one of two stakes she won in 2001.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Three consecutive losses in major stakes have damaged the reputation of D'wildcat, who was expected to be a leading sprinter this year.
Since being promoted from second to first in the Churchill Downs Handicap on the Kentucky Derby undercard following the disqualification of Snow Ridge, D'wildcat has lost the Met Mile at Belmont Park, Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park, and Bing Crosby Handicap at Del Mar.
On Monday, D'wildcat makes his turf debut in a $68,000 allowance race over a mile at Del Mar.
