INGLEWOOD, Calif. - September Secret had little trouble handling her first stakes assignment in Saturday's $106,300 Railbird Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Always near the front, she pulled away in the stretch to win the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies by four lengths despite not changing leads in the stretch.
"I wasn't going to worry about it," jockey Pat Valenzuela said. "She was getting to the wire all alone."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Peu a Peu ($7.40) sat off a slow pace set by entrymate Polaire and rallied to defeat defending champion Janet by two lengths and break a 23-year-old course record in the Grade 3 Yerba Buena Breeders' Cup Handicap Saturday at Bay Meadows.
The German-bred Peu a Peu, making her United States debut for trainer Bobby Frankel, set a Longden Turf Course record of 2:16.39 for the 1 3/8-mile race, breaking the record of 2:16.40 set by Golden Doc Ray on Oct. 6, 1979.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Megans Bluff won the $112,900 Mint Julep Handicap for the second year in a row Saturday at Churchill Downs, holding off a stretch-long bid by Cozy Island to capture the Grade 3 race by a neck.
Megans Bluff, the 118-pound highweight in a field of eight fillies and mares, returned $9.60 as third choice. She ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.87 over a good turf. Cozy Island finished another three lengths ahead of Solvig, the 2-1 favorite.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Miss Sandy Dee will be the one to beat in Monday's $30,000 Victoria Day, where a field six fillies and mares will go 5 1/2 furlongs in the first stakes race of the season at Assiniboia Downs.
Last year, Miss Sandy Dee won the Winnipeg Sun and Matron on her way to being named the top local older mare.
Trained by Patti Ross, Miss Sandy Dee will be making her first start of 2002. Second in the Victoria Day last year behind Ispymytie, the distance may be her only downfall as all 10 of her lifetime wins have come between six and nine furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - You would think that Texas-based trainer Donnie Von Hemel would like to forget the only time he ran a horse at Woodbine.
Von Hemel, who will saddle unbeaten Pin Oak Stable runner See How She Runs in Monday's Grade 1 Selene Stakes, sent out odds-on favorite Clever Trevor here in the 1989 Molson Million, but went home disappointed when Clever Trevor finished fourth, in a race won by Prized.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Graded stakes experience should go a long way in an optional claimer at Hawthorne Race Coursein Monday's featured ninth race. Lakenheath won a Grade 3, Vicki Vallencourt just was third in a Grade 2, and they should be the two favorites.
War Emblem, installed as the second choice in the Preakness morning line in spite of his convincing win in the Kentucky Derby, is the favorite with bettors through the close of early wagering Friday at odds of 5-2. Medaglia d'Oro, the Preakness morning line favorite, is next at odds of 7-2. Derby runner-up Proud Citizen is not getting much respect with the public early on at odds of 11-1. Complete odds for Preakness 127 at the close of wagering Friday:
No. - Horse - Odds
1 U S S Tinosa 13-1
2 Magic Weisner 23-1
3 Straight Gin 25-1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lord Nelson would have been favored in Saturday's Spring Sprint Stakes at Hastings Park, but his trainer, Dino Condilenios, elected to pass the race because he wants a fresh horse for the $250,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs on Aug. 25.
Condilenios said Lord Nelson is doing fine, and he plans to race him in the John Longden here June 9.
"It's a great field," said Condilenios of the Spring Sprint, "and it would have been a nice one for the fans, but I have to do what I think is best for the horse."
AUBURN, Wash. - Sunday's $35,000 Fox Sports Net Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs will showcase a familiar cast of Northwest sprint stars, plus one intriguing newcomer.
Profound Secret, an 8-year-old son of Gate Dancer with career earnings of more than $400,000, arrived here Wednesday night with northern California-based trainer Kent Molinaro, who intends to test the local stakes waters Sunday.
"Everybody told me this was a long way to come for a $35,000 purse, but I really wanted to see how my horse handles this track," said Molinaro.
BALTIMORE - Give Jerry Bailey an inch, and he'll take the race. Bailey expected to be sitting third in the early going of Friday's Grade 2, $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes with favored Chamrousse, but found himself the beneficiary of an eager filly, a moderate pace, a speed-favoring course, and the rail.
Bailey did the math. He allowed Chamrousse to press the early pace from the inside, then roused her aggressively when it was time to put away the stubborn Shop Till You Drop. Chamrousse drew away in
