OCEANPORT, N.J. - No horse has won the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park and then gone to Monmouth Park to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. Although history will be weighing against him, Came Home will try to break the schneid.
Trainer Paco Gonzalez confirmed Sunday that Came Home, winner of the Grade 2 Swaps on July 14, will return off a three-week layoff to face War Emblem in the $1 million Haskell here on Aug. 5. Gonzalez said Came Home would probably ship three days before the race.
OMAHA, Neb. - Catniro, claimed for $40,000 in his last start at Churchill Downs, earned back his purchase price, and returned dividends, with a gutty half-length victory in the $100,000 Omaha Handicap at Horsemen's Park.
Trained by Randy Morse, Catniro set all the pace and held off late charges from Baker Road and Miner's Prize to take down the winner's share of $58,800. Terry Thompson was aboard as Catniro ($13.60), who covered a mile in 1:37.20 over a fast track.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Sherpa Guide rallied from last to win the restricted $81,475 Evan Shipman Stakes by three lengths on closing day at Belmont Park. Turnofthecentury, who set the pace until deep stretch, finished second, a neck in front of Mount Intrepid.
It was the third consecutive victory and first career stakes win for Sherpa Guide, a 4-year-old New York-bred gelded son of Ends Well owned by Berkshire Stud and trained by Tom Walsh.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sambuca on Ice ($16.20) split foes in deep stretch and defeated Saratoga Prince by three-quarters of a length in the $133,375 Bold Venture Stakes at Woodbine.
Parose ($8.80) won the $106,000 Izvestia Stakes for older Canadian-breds. Parose finished 1 1/4 lengths clear of favored Win City, last year's Canadian Horse of the Year.
DEL MAR, Calif. - When Mutinyonthebounty heads to the post for the second division of the Oceanside Stakes on Wednesday's opening-day card at Del Mar, it will be the culmination of months of unorthodox preparation for a colt who became so recalcitrant after arriving in this country that trainer Beau Greely had to call for help.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Patrick Valenzuela will turn 40 in October, but he showed the zest of an eager apprentice when he won the riding title at the Hollywood Park meeting that ended Sunday.
He says that having a chance to ride again after eight suspensions - many for substance-abuse violations - can do that to a person's attitude.
On Wednesday, Valenzuela will continue a seven-month comeback when he rides at Del Mar for the first time since 1997. Although he has not won a Del Mar riding title since 1991, it might not be a good idea to bet against him this year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It seemed reasonably safe to assume that the winner of Fort Erie's Prince of Wales Stakes would emerge from the Queen's Plate.
The Plate-to-Wales scenario hadn't missed a beat since 1988, when the Prince of Wales was moved from 1 1/2 miles of turf to 1 3/16 miles on the main track.
But, Le Cinquieme Essai put an end to the trend when he captured Sunday's Prince of Wales, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Classic Manner, coming off a disappointing effort in his stakes debut, will try to get back on track in Wednesday's fifth race at Woodbine, a six-furlong entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up.
Because of his lineage, much was probably expected from Classic Manner before he ever ran. A 4-year-old Regal Classic gelding, he is out of Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Stakes winner Moon Mist, the dam of added-money winners Barlee Mist and Bold Mist.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - It may not be Del Mar or Saratoga, but as special as those tracks are to the racing industry, that is what the Sonoma County Fair is to northern California fair racing.
The 12 days of "wine country racing" here beginning Wednesday is the best on the northern California fair circuit. Two Kentucky Derby runners-up, Casual Lies and local hero Cavonnier, won their maiden races here, and the $100,000 Joseph T. Grace Handicap, scheduled for Aug. 3, was the first $100,000 Thoroughbred stakes on the fair circuit.
CHICAGO - Trainer Wally Dollase's "A" team came up just short three weeks ago in the Arlington Classic, but the "B" team was good enough Sunday in the Grade 2, $225,000 . There, the Dollase-trained Mananan McLir wore down Irish invader Jazz Beat to win by three-quarters of a length, avenging Doc Holiday's narrow defeat to Mr. Mellon in the Classic.