ALBANY, Calif. - Hall of Gold was pulling up from her win in the Richmond Handicap when jockey Chad Schvaneveldt heard a sickening pop.
Hall of Gold never made it to the winner's circle. She had fractured a sesamoid in her left front leg, the latest in a run of serious injuries to horses at Golden Gate Fields.
A couple years ago, trainer Deborah Bodner had a horse in her barn who simply loved Aqueduct's inner and main tracks. That horse, Smart Coupons, won Aqueduct's Kings Point three years running and also won the Grade 3 Excelsior at the Big A for Bodner.
These days, Bodner has another Aqueduct lover on her hands in John Little, who is undefeated in three starts over the inner track.
John Little, a 4-year-old son of Blushing John, meets nine others on Thursday in Aqueduct's $54,000 feature, a mile race around two turns for older males.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Belterra may have gotten most of the headlines and attention in trainer Carl Nafzger's barn last year after winning all three of her starts. But she wasn't the only undefeated 2-year-old filly under Nafzger's shed in 2001.
Take the Cake also had an unblemished record at 2. And while the more heralded Belterra continues to work for her 3-year-old debut, Take the Cake has already made a name for herself this winter, upsetting A New Twist to capture the Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Regardless of whether she was responding to the urging screams of jockey Brice Blanc or newfound running room before her, Blue Moon rallied to win her fist graded stakes in Monday's $150,000 Buena Vista Handicap* at Santa Anita.
Stuck behind a wall of frontrunners turning for home, Blue Moon found space near the eighth pole and caught the frontrunning Queen of Wilshire in the final furlong to win the one-mile turf race for fillies and mares by a neck.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Nice Boots Baby may have an excuse for her last-place finish as the 2-5 favorite in Saturday's Dearly Precious Stakes at Aqueduct.
"She's very sensitive on her right hip," trainer Tony Dutrow said Monday. "We're going to send her to New Bolton [Equine Clinic] for a bone scan. She's not lame, but she's sensitive on her right hip as though she possibly banged herself in the gate."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Miss City Halo withstood an inquiry to win the $50,000 Martha Washington Stakes* by 1 1/4 lengths over favorite Gilded Wings before a holiday crowd of 27,106 at Oaklawn Park. It was a nose back in third to For Rubies.
ALBANY, Calif. - The best thing that happened to La Martina during her stretch rally to win the $55,700 California Oaks* at Golden Gate Fields was when jockey Russell Baze hit her in the nose with his whip.
"I think when he hit my filly she got mad," winning jockey Frank Alvarado said after edging Baze and Redmond by a head in the 1 1/16-mile turf race. Winning time over the yielding course was 1:47.16.
Baze put Redmond on the lead but was always under some pressure.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Bold World made a shambles of her competition and came within a half-second of Gulfstream Park's five-furlong track record when she registered a nine-length victory over Castelli Miss and six other outclassed 3-year-old fillies in the $71,000 Dame Mysterieuse Stakes*.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - People's Princess had to survive a 12-minute stewards' inquiry and a trainer's objection to win the Grade 3, $108,600 Rare Treat Handicap* at Aqueduct.
Zonk, who defeated People's Princess in last month's Affectionately Handicap, finished second, but was disqualified and placed fourth for interfering with A.O.L. Hayes in upper stretch. A.O.L. Hayes, who finished fourth, was moved to third. Pocus Hocus, who finished third, was moved to second.
Despite some unruly pre-race behavior, Wrangler continued his ascension through the sprint ranks Monday at Laurel Park, rallying from just off the pace to win the Grade 2, $200,000 General George Handicap* by 2 3/4 lengths. Rusty Spur, a 27-1 longshot who set a quick pace, held second by a head over Affirmed Success, the 2000 General George winner.