HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Take The Cake was never close to A New Twist when the pair met three weeks ago in the Old Hat Stakes. But she had little trouble turning the tables on A New Twist in the rematch, rallying to a convincing three and one quarter length victory over the 2-5 favorite in Sunday's $100,000 Forward Gal Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. - There is no debate regarding the top-ranked female sprinter in California.
Kalookan Queen took care of that argument in Saturday's $200,000 * at Santa Anita.
Scoring her fourth stakes win in the last six months, Kalookan Queen ($4) outfinished 19-1 longshot Leading Light by a half-length to record her first win in a Grade 1. Spain, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding older female of 2001, finished third, and was followed by Favorite Funtime for Warren's Whistle.
NEW ORLEANS - The tail end of the Fair Grounds Monday program challenges all sorts of handicapping strategies. Try to find a developing young grass filly in the eighth; sort through a full field of mid-level turf allowance horses in the ninth; and get out your pedigree books and training race notes for the nightcap, a good-looking maiden sprint for 3-year-olds.
A mix-up involving two bay 5-year-old mares owned by K.K. Jayaraman and trained by Joe Martin has led to pending action against the horses' connections, according to stewards at Beulah, where Martin is based.
The horses are the maidens Comic Grey and Seventh Wish. Seventh Wish has run six times, although in her last three starts she ran under the name of Comic Grey. Comic Grey is still unraced. Both mares were bred by Jayaraman.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Jockeys Heberto Castillo Jr. and Roberto Villafan, who were involved in a nasty-looking spill Friday at Aqueduct, were released from the hospital with cuts and bruises.
Castillo suffered a gash on his ear that required more than a dozen stitches and took off his one mount on Saturday. Castillo, who was released from Jamaica Hospital on Saturday morning, said he probably would take off his mounts on Sunday and return to the saddle Wednesday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Stephentown and Grey Beard, who earned their way into the Grade 1 Fountain of Youth Stakes by winning split divisions of a preliminary allowance race Jan. 9, began getting a bit more serious for their next assignment when breezing easy half-miles on Saturday morning.
Stephentown, working shortly after dawn, went four furlongs in a leisurely 52.60 seconds, while Grey Beard, with jockey Edgar Prado aboard, was well within himself covering the same distance in 49.40 seconds two hours later.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Richest Half rallied strongly through the stretch to win the $50,000 Mountain Valley Stakes before a crowd of 17,406 at Oaklawn Park.
It was a three-quarters of a length back ro runner-up and favorite Cojet, who finished a nose in front of Red and Rare.
Richest Half raced well behind a quick early pace in the Mountain Valley, emerged from midpack in the stretch, and ran down the leaders, covering the six furlongs over a fast track in 1:11.80. Ridden by Justin Vitek, he returned $29.20.
Sense of Duty rallied from well off the pace under Brian Peck for a mild upset in the $49,500 Forego Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Sense of Duty, who just two races ago won a $50,000 claiming race at Churchill Downs, prevailed by a neck over Golden Oldie in a field of 10 older horses.
Personal First, the 7-5 favorite, finished third, another two lengths back.
Sense of Duty, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by Meadowlake, is owned by Jan, Mace, and Samantha Siegel and trained by Paul McGee. He returned $16.80 after running
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Saturday's $80,725 Paumonok Handicap at Aqueduct became an easier assignment for the five horses who ran when the morning-line favorite, Here's Zealous, was scratched early in the day because of a cough.
The significance of the scratch wasn't lost on trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who saddled the Paumonok's 2 3/4-length winner and even-money favorite, Wrangler. "That's a hell of a scratch," Jerkens said with a grin in the winner's circle on an unusually balmy winter afternoon.
