ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Randy Schulhofer says he can't wait to get to Saratoga. The way he's going this summer, one would think he wouldn't want to leave Belmont Park.
Nine days after winning his first New York graded stakes with Owsley in the New York Handicap, Schulhofer sent out Whitmore's Conn to upset the Grade 2, $150,000 by 1 3/4 lengths over Staging Post. It was a head back to Moon Solitaire, who got third by a neck over Startac.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Bill White expected Puck to be close to the pace in the Grade 3, $100,000 Long Branch Breeders' Cup on Saturday, so he was a little concerned when Puck was shuffled back at the start and raced far off the pace.
But Puck showed a new running style in the Long Branch, the prep for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational Aug. 4, closing from off the pace to capture his first graded stakes and second consecutive stakes win. The victory gave the Calder-based White his first win in his first Monmouth start, and also earned Puck a berth in the Haskell in three weeks.
ALTOONA, Iowa - The Prairie Meadows Thoroughbred-Quarter Horse mixed meeting, which begins Monday, offers record purses.
Purses will average $140,000 per day (not including Iowa-bred supplements) for the 45-day meet, about $15,000 per day more than last year's meet. The meet ends Sept. 28.
Track management hopes to build on the momentum established during the 53-day Thoroughbred meeting, which ended on July 6. All-sources handle at that meeting increased more than 17 percent from last year's meet.
Orchard Park disposed of Jeremiah Jack turning into the straight, then held off a late charge from favored Flying Dash to win the $500,000 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs Saturday.
Orchard Park and jockey Edgar Prado stalked pacesetter Root With Style down the backstretch of the 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-olds, and moved to the lead just inside of Jeremiah Jack coming off the far turn. Flying Dash looked as if he would challenge Orchard Park in mid-straight, but flattened out.
Orchard Park ($6) won by 1 1/2 lengths, running the distance in 2:03.10.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - As Sky Jack bowls along in front in the early stages of Sunday's Hollywood Gold Cup, his trainer, Doug O'Neill, will alternate between watching the race unfold and the timer on the tote board.
If the fractions for the first half-mile are quick, say 22 and 45 seconds, it could doom Sky Jack. Slower fractions of 23 and 46 seconds would give O'Neill and owners Rene and Margie Lambert the hope that Sky Jack can lead his six rivals through the Gold Cup distance of 1 1/4 miles.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In the summer, there's not a lot of original programming, and trainer Paco Gonzalez would like nothing more than to see a repeat of the Affirmed Handicap when he sends out Came Home in Sunday's $500,000 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park.
"If he runs the way he did last time, he's going to be very tough," Gonzalez said from his Santa Anita stable on Friday morning. "He came out of his last race very good. Everything looks good. I couldn't ask for anything better."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Cot Campbell has twice seen his horse cross the finish line first in the Lexington Stakes, but has never been able to savor victory in the Grade 3 turf race for 3-year-old colts and geldings.
In 1980, Proctor finished first only to be disqualified for interference. In 1999, Mythical Gem registered a gate-to-wire victory, but suffered a condylar fracture. He was vanned off the track and later euthanized.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It has been more than a year since Kalookan Queen lost two consecutive races, which may be bad news for her opponents in Sunday's $200,000 A Gleam Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Kalookan Queen finished second by a neck in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Handicap on June 7, her first start since beating males in the Potrero Grande Breeders' Cup Handicap in March.
In the seven-furlong A Gleam, Kalookan Queen will be favored.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tackling Stress and Rights Reserved, both residents of Barn 10 at Woodbine, will clash in Sunday's $133,625 Colin Stakes, a six-furlong dash for 2-year-olds.
Tackling Stress, a Kentucky-bred by Navarone, blew away a weak field of maiden special weight runners with Constant Montpellier aboard in his lone start, on June 23. His five-furlong time of 59 seconds was good for a Beyer Speed Figure of 67.
EDMONTON, Alberta - A rent-a-horse philosophy is thriving here at Northlands Park.
The record amount of claiming this spring at Stampede Park, in which about 125 horses changed hands for a total outlay of $1.4 million, is carrying over to the summer meet at Northlands.
