OCEANPORT, N.J. - Forget that Sea of Tranquility, the second choice in Sunday's inaugural running of the $50,000 Frisk Me Now Stakes for 3-year-olds and up, hadn't won since Oct. 29, five races back. Four of those defeats came away from Monmouth Park, and as the 6-year-old showed Sunday, he is a totally different horse here, capturing the Frisk Me Now by 7 3/4 lengths over seven rivals.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In more ways than one, Crowned Dancer inherited the victory in Sunday's $69,530 Willard Proctor Memorial Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Making his second start, Crowned Dancer was helped when morning-line favorite Expression was scratched due to colic. In the race, an expected early challenge failed to materialize, allowing Crowned Dancer to take the lead on the turn and scoot away to a five-length win.
"He's so fast, and the other speed didn't turn out to go that fast, so we wound up in front," jockey Alex Solis said.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - A B Noodle ran in her first race against winners and won the Bay Meadows Oaks by three-quarters of a length over Doc's Lil' Angel on Sunday.
A B Noodle, who set the pace in her past two starts was content to sit in second behind Yourfinalanswer during the early portion of the 1 1/16-mile turf race. She moved in front of Yourfinalanswer heading into the stretch and held off Doc's Lil' Angel, who rallied wide from last place. The winning time was 1:43.11.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Millionaire Cal-bred Native Desert won the 21st race of his career as he outfinished Cat Flight to win the $67,513 Foster City Handicap at Bay Meadows on Saturday.
Native Desert ($7) was in tight on the rail behind surprising pacesetter R McLennen when he finally got room to run inside the eighth pole of the 1 1/16-mile turf race. He charged to the lead and beat Cat Flight, who rallied outside R McLennen by one-half length. The winning time was 1:42.64. R McLennen was third, beaten a head by Cat Flight.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The gap is widening between Azeri and the other older fillies and mare racing on dirt in California.
On Saturday, Azeri won her third consecutive Grade 1 in the $211,400 at Hollywood Park. Ridden by Mike Smith, Azeri finished 3 1-2 lengths in front of Affluent. In their last meeting, the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 6, there was 1 3-4 lengths separating the two.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The field for Monday's $750,000 is so strong that Bob Hess Jr., trainer of D'wildcat, called it "an honor" just to be in the race.
The 109th running of the Met Mile features four Grade 1 winners (Left Bank, Affirmed Success, Swept Overboard, and Burning Roma), three Grade 2 winners (Grey Memo, Crafty C. T. and D'wildcat), and the dangerous Bobby Frankel-trained Aldebaran. Wake at Noon, a Grade 3 winner, and the graded stakes placed duo of Dayton Flyer and Voodoo complete the 11-horse field.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Astra is no easy project, which makes her a fitting contender in the best race Monday at Hollywood Park.
The Grade 1 Gamely Handicap, a nine-furlong turf race for fillies and mares, highlights a complex 10-race card on which Astra's trainer, Laura de Seroux, faces a dilemma similar to that of Memorial Day bettors. "Astra is very complicated, she's a keg of TNT," said de Seroux.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Congaree, who could develop into a top handicap horse this season, launches his 4-year-old campaign Monday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap. His presence will be the focus of a seven-stakes card worth $1 million, and is a coup for Lone Star Park as trainer Bob Baffert had considered bringing the talented colt back at Belmont Park in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Many consider a victory by Congaree in Monday's Lone Star Park Handicap a foregone conclusion, but there is no such standout in the $200,000 WinStar Distaff Monday.
A case can be built for almost all of the 12 fillies and mares in the one-mile turf race, which is one of six undercard stakes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Such was the power of his career debut that Posse was bet down to 3-5 in the Three Chimneys Juvenile, a Kentucky Derby Day sidelight that perennially attracts a gaggle of impressive maiden winners from near and far.
Alas, Posse could manage no better than a third-place finish in the field of 13 in the Three Chimneys, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind the victorious filly, Holiday Runner. But when Posse returns to action on Monday in the $150,000 Kentucky Breeders' Cup Stakes at Churchill Downs, there is a distinct likelihood that the colt will make amends.
