Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Big horse is beatable

Horsephotos
Grade 1 winner With Anticipation needs a race, but not necessarily the one he's in on Wednesday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - With Anticipation was a two-time Grade 1 winner and an Eclipse Award finalist in 2001. But he could find himself at the mercy of allowance competition when launching his 2002 campaign at five furlongs on the turf in Wednesday's $46,000 feature at Gulfstream Park.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Mysia Jo takes Camelia

NEW ORLEANS - Mysia Jo flew through the final furlong of the $100,000 , beating longshots Autobesarah and Eastern Sun by 3 1/2 lengths on Monday, closing day at Fair Grounds.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Golden Apples turning into 24-karat gem

ARCADIA, Calif. - The $450,000 that Gary Tanaka paid for Golden Apples last summer has turned out to be a bargain.

On Saturday, won her third stakes in this country, the Grade 2 Santa Ana Handicap at Santa Anita to stake a claim as the leading turf female in California.

Considering the concentration of major stakes for turf females on the West Coast throughout the year, that distinction carries national implications.

In the Santa Ana, Golden Apples was a convincing winner against a field that included four other Grade 1 winners.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Sunday Break set for next test

JAMAICA, N.Y. - It's early spring and trainer Neil Drysdale is at Aqueduct overseeing a bay 3-year-old colt owned by a Japanese businessman.

If that sounds familiar, the sense of deja vu could become downright scary if Sunday Break does what is expected and solidifies his status as a classics prospect in Wednesday's sixth race.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Angel Gift faces tough Frankel duo

ARCADIA, Calif. - The versatility of Angel Gift, who can lead or come from behind, may result in her third career win at Santa Anita on Wednesday.

Angel Gift, one of six older fillies and mares entered in a $60,000 allowance race over 1 1/8 miles on turf, has had good form in her last three starts for trainer Paddy Gallagher and owners Ward Williford and Rick Strauss.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Windward Passage may make up for dad's near miss

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Windward Passage is on the verge of earning the chance to take care of some unresolved Kentucky Derby business for his owner, Team Valor Stables, and his sire, Captain Bodgit. The homebred Windward Passage became his sire's first stakes winner Saturday when he captured the Grade 3, $100,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park, earning a place in the Grade 2, $500,000 Arkansas Derby.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Mr. Mellon timed it right for a big step up

FLORENCE, Ky. - The coming weeks will determine just how important the decision was to run Mr. Mellon in the Rushaway Stakes.

"I really was going to just wait for an allowance at Keeneland," Mr. Mellon's trainer, Elliott Walden, said Monday, two days after the horse raced to a decisive 2 1/4-length victory in the Rushaway at Turfway Park. "I'm just glad I decided to go for this race. Real glad."

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Mongoose joins Gulf Cap lineup

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer H. James Bond has confirmed Mongoose as a definite starter for Saturday's $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap, which now appears likely to draw four Grade 1 winners. Along with Mongoose, winner of the Donn Handicap earlier in the meet, the field for the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap will also include Red Bullet, Sir Bear, and Hal's Hope.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Sportsman's: Mc Mahon holds on

Mc Mahon turned an uncontested lead and a moderate pace into victory in the $104,450 Sportsman's Park Breeders' Cup Handicap. Ridden by Randall Meier, Mc Mahon held on by a rapidly diminishing neck over odds-on favorite Chicago Six, who suffered his first defeat in seven starts at Sportsman's Park.

Mc Mahon ($18.80), who had finished fourth in his first start of the year at Santa Anita last month, had prior success in Chicago, winning the Royal Glint Stakes at Hawthorne as a 2-year-old.

Mon, 03/25/2002 - 00:00

Legendary Weave strictly business on and off track

ALBANY, Calif. - Sentiment sometimes plays a role in racing.

But trainer Ed Moger Jr., who will start Legendary Weave in Wednesday's feature race at Golden Gate Fields, said the decision by owners Curt and Lila Lanning to reclaim the colt one race after he had been claimed from them was not a sentimental one.

Legendary Weave drew the rail in the field of eight older allowance runners who will compete in the six-furlong feature.