ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Gonetofarr wore down favored Ginger Gold in the final furlong en route to an impressive score in Sunday's $163,500 Fury Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
Ginger Gold, last year's champion 2-year-old filly in Canada, led the way in the seven-furlong tilt, setting fractions of :22.14 and :44.65. Gonetofarr loomed into contention on the far turn under Jim McAleney, who said he had a lot of horse under him.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Grade 1 winner Voodoo Dancer, the even-money favorite, was an easy winner of Sunday's $113,200 Beaugay Handicap at Aqueduct on closing day.
With Jerry Bailey in the saddle, Voodoo Dancer, who was making her first start of 2002, was a 2 3/4-length winner over Golden Corona. It was a nose back to Babae, the second choice, who finished third in the 10-horse field of fillies and mares.
Voodoo Dancer ($4.30) covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.10 over the turf course, which was labeled good. Voodoo Dancer was the 119-pound highweight of the Grade 3 Beaugay.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - War Emblem, allowed to coast alone on the lead, led from start to finish to capture the at 20-1 on Saturday at Churchill Downs, giving trainer Bob Baffert his third Derby victory.
War Emblem was purchased less than a month ago by Baffert on behalf of Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation. None of the dozens of 2-year-olds that Baffert began with one year ago panned out, forcing Baffert and Salman to buy their way into the Derby.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Fancee Bargain ($18.80), last through the first half mile, unleashed a strong closing kick to win the $65,813 Woodside Handicap by three lengths over defending champion and odds-on favorite Slewsbox. Fancy Bargain ran the six furlongs in 1:09.60.
"They told me to keep her out of trouble, and I did. I let her settle, and she made a strong run," winning rider Frank Alvarado said of his three-wide rally.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Beat Hollow finally lived up to his reputation in the $452,500 at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
Scoring his first stakes win in the United States, Beat Hollow caught the front-running Climate at the top of the stretch and held off a world-class cast of challengers.
Ridden by Alex Solis, Beat Hollow ($5.20) ran 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:47.35.
The 5-year-old Beat Hollow gave trainer Bobby Frankel his first victory in the Turf Classic.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The fairy-tale story of trainer Ken McPeek and the Ohio-bred Harlan's Holiday concluded without a happy ending at Churchill Downs on Saturday when the colt finished a disappointing seventh as the tepid 6-1 favorite in the 128th running of the Kentucky Derby.
No horse who has ever been favored at 3-1 or greater has ever won the race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Kentucky Derby week that included a hint of controversy for trainer Bob Baffert ended in triumph on Saturday.
Baffert scored his third career victory in the Kentucky Derby when the front-running War Emblem pulled away in the final furlong to win by four lengths at 20-1. Owned by Ahmed Salman's Thoroughbred Corp., War Emblem joins Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) as Baffert-trained winners of the Derby.
What comes down, must go up. One race after the disappointment of seeing Snow Ridge disqualified from victory in the Churchill Downs Handicap, trainer D. Wayne Lukas headed right back to the winner's circle. This time, he stayed there.
Lukas's fleet filly Holiday Runner flew out of the gate, turned back a challenge from favored Posse, then held off a belated bid from Zavata to capture the $121,400 Three Chimneys Juvenile, a five-furlong dash for 2-year-olds.
The stakes undercard got off to a controversial start when Snow Ridge was disqualified from first and placed second, giving D'wildcat ($19.80) the victory in the $171,450 .
Snow Ridge survived an early pace duel with Accelerant to draw well clear into the stretch then withstood D'wildcat's final rally to post an apparent neck triumph. But following an objection by jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard D'wildcat, who alleged Snow Ridge's rider, Mike Smith, had struck his horse across the face with his whip in deep stretch, the stewards reversed the original order of finish.
LOUISVILLE, Ky - Prince Ahmed bin Salman had great fun a few hours before watching his new purchase, War Emblem, win the Kentucky Derby. Three races earlier, Salman was in the middle of a joyous winner's circle following an emphatic victory by Stylish in the $115,200 Citgo Distaff Turf Mile.
Stylish, ridden by Jerry Bailey and trained by Bill Mott, returned $9 after coming from mid-pack to win the Grade 3, one-mile turf race by 1 1/4 lengths over La Recherche. Dianehill, part of an entry favored at 5-2, was just another head back in third in a field of 10 fillies and mares.
