ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Falcon Flight and trainer Donald Burke should never leave Arlington.
Burke won the second race of his training career when Falcon Flight flew through the final furlong of Saturday's Grade 3, $225,000 Arlington Handicap to beat Kappa King by a neck.
It was Falcon Flight's first win since he took the Stars and Stripes Handicap here last July, Burke's first win as a trainer. Falcon Flight had raced only twice since then and was making his first start since last September.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Monday's $100,000 Lake George Stakes drew a well-balanced field of 11, with no real standout. Add to the equation an unsettled forecast and outside posts for a couple of the major contenders, and the Grade 3 turf race becomes a difficult problem for handicappers to solve.
The usual suspects - trainers Bobby Frankel, Bill Mott, and Christophe Clement - entered horses in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. Perhaps, the Elliott Walden-trained Guana could offer value.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Kona Gold was scratched from Saturday's $200,000 Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar after co-owner Irwin Molasky and trainer Bruce Headley said they were unsatisfied with the 124-pound weight assignment.
A winner of 13 of 25 starts and $2.1 million, Kona Gold was the 7-5 morning-line favorite for the six-furlong Bing Crosby, a race he won in 2000 and 2001.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tony Reinstedler and Nick Zito are in the envious position of each having two horses to run in next Sunday's 3-year-old stakes at Saratoga and Monmouth Park. The challenge for both trainers is deciding in which race to enter their charges.
The decision became more complicated in the last 24 hours with Friday's announcement that Came Home won't run in the $1 million Haskell and Saturday's revelation that Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem is back in the Haskell picture. The other option, of course, is the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Sea of Tranquility won the Grade 3, $100,000 Salvator Mile for the second year in a row at Monmouth on Saturday, but only after First Lieutenant, the first to cross the wire, was taken down for his interference with Free of Love at the top of the stretch.
Trial Prep ($8.10) outfought odds-on favorite Private Emblem through the stretch to win the $143,733 New York Derby at Finger Lakes by three-quarters of a length.
No Parole, who won the first leg of the Big Apple Triple for 3-year-old New York-breds, the seven-furlong Mike Lee at Belmont Park, never seriously threatened and finished third in the field of five, four lengths behind runner-up Private Emblem.
Trial Prep, trained by Richard Dutrow and ridden by John Grabowski, was timed in 1:45.18 for 1 1/16 miles.
CINCINNATI - Kind of Fun was awarded the top spot in the $100,000, nine furlong Queen City Oaks following a Steward's Inquiry and rider's claim of foul after having dropped a neck decision to Crypto's Twinjet. It was four and one-half lengths further back to Come Hither in the field of 10 Ohio Bred three year old fillies.
Banderia ($10) enabled trainer Marty Wolfson to win the $75,000 Aspidistra Handicap for the fifth time when she drew off to a two-length victory at Calder.
Jockey Manuel Cruz began to ask the 5-year-old Banderia to make a run with a half-mile remaining in the one-mile turf race, but she was still fifth coming into the final turn. Banderia slipped through along the inside while advancing into contention, then swung outside 3-2 favorite Bay Street Gal and took command inside the sixteenth pole.
Mujado, a 4-year-old Irish-bred filly making her first North American stakes appearance, broke an 18-year-old track record while winning the $60,300 Local Thriller Stakes at Delaware Park.
Her time of 56.16 seconds for five furlongs on turf shaved four-hundreths of a second off the record of 56.20 set by Jeff on Sept. 3, 1984.
Trained by Christophe Clement since arriving from England last winter, Mujado ($16.20) rallied from off the pace and drew clear by 1 1/2 lengths over runner-up Oh Say Vicki.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Boldest of All won her maiden in style at Woodbine, leading all the way in the $129,125 Nandi Stakes for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies.
Boldest of All was pressed on the front end by Dressed for Action through splits of 23.01 and 46.10 seconds in the six-furlong sprint. She opened up a one-length lead at the eighth pole, and then coasted home on top by 2 1/2 lengths in a time of 1:11.58.
Dressed for Action finished a clear second, while Santerra outran 3-5 favorite Nystar for third in the five-horse field.