OCEANPORT, N.J. - Jockey Eibar Coa had a week to remember at Monmouth.
Coa started the week with five wins on Wednesday, ended the week with four wins on Sunday, and totaled 12 for the week. Over the weekend, Coa won all three stakes races - the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher Handicap Saturday and the $50,000 Dearly Precious Stakes and $50,000 Skip Away Stakes on Sunday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Astra left everything to the last moment in major stakes at Hollywood Park this summer.
On May 27, Astra closed furiously to catch Starine in the Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap. On Saturday, Astra inherited the lead in early stretch and held off an impressive rally from Peu a Peu to win the $250,000 Beverly Hills Handicap for the second consecutive year.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Shug McGaughey had won the Grade 2 at Monmouth four times, the most of any trainer in the race's 56-year history. But on Saturday, the odds that he would win his fifth with Atelier were not good.
Atelier, sent off at 8-1 in the five-horse field, may have given McGaughey his most rewarding Molly Pitcher victory yet, pulling off a huge upset to capture the $300,000 Molly Pitcher by one length over the 3-5 favorite Summer Colony. Spain, sent off at 6-5, was 3 1/4 lengths behind Summer Colony in third.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Due To Win Again outfinished Golden Rhythm in the late stages to win the $50,000 Honeymoon Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Louisiana Downs on Saturday. It was another three lengths back in third to pacesetter Eagle Lake.
Due To Win Again($8.60) stalked Eagle Lake through an opening six furlongs in 1:12.74. The eventual winner took the lead in midstretch, then fought off a closing bid by Golden Rhythm. Due To Win Again covered the mile over firm turf in 1:36.50.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jerry Bailey usually takes a trainer's instructions with a grain of salt. In Saturday's Grade 1 , he took trainer Frank Alexander's instructions to heart, and it helped get him to the winner's circle.
Bailey kept Nonsuch Bay last of four through the opening six furlongs of the Mother Goose, before letting his filly run. When he did, Nonsuch Bay blew past her three rivals and scored a 1 1/2-length victory in the $250,000 Mother Goose before 7,729 at Belmont.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It took six races, but Mr. Mellon put everything together Saturday in the , beating Doc Holiday by a neck in a rousing stretch duel.
The Grade 2 win validated the high expectations Mr. Mellon was tagged with long before he raced. Mr. Mellon sold for $950,000 as a yearling, a tremendous price for a colt by Red Ransom. His dam, Mackie, sold for $5 million in 2000 while in foal to Mr. Prospector, and his second dam, Glowing Tribute, is one of the finest broodmares in recent history.
MIAMI - Last Saturday, Eclipse Award winning owner-breeder Michael Sherman went home shaking his head. He had watched his promising 3-year-old Kingmaker stumble and lose jockey Manny Aguilar leaving the starting gate in the $100,000 Unbridled Stakes. This Saturday Sherman went home to celebrate after Aguilar guided 2-year-old filly Heavenly Miss to an impressive 1 1/4-length victory over 8-5 favorite Crimson and Roses in the $100,000 J j'sdream Stakes at Calder.
MIAMI - It has been four years since Ric Squartino's riding career was sidetracked because of a weight problem, and the former jockey still tipped the scales at 140 pounds when he decided to attempt a comeback earlier this year.
Squartino has shed 25 pounds over the past three months and easily tacked the 118 pounds his mount Three Minute Call carried to a fifth-place finish in Saturday's second race at Calder Race Course. Squartino lost the weight in an unusual way: by working as a cook in a restaurant.
Desert Darby won the $125,000 Assault Stakes at Lone Star Park on Saturday in his first start back from a layoff of nearly a year. The 1 1/16-mile race for Texas-breds was the richest of six restricted stakes on the program that made up the second annual Stars of Texas Day.
Logan's Leo finished three-quarters of a length behind Desert Darby in second, while it was another three-quarters of a length back in third to 3-5 favorite Lights on Broadway. Desert Demon broke down on the backstretch and threw rider Anthony Lovato, who suffered possible lacerations to his lip and tongue.
