ARCADIA, Calif. - Cardiac finishes are becoming the standard for Affluent and jockey Eddie Delahoussaye in recent months.
On Saturday, Affluent won her second consecutive Grade 1 with a come-from-behind win in the $200,000 La Brea Stakes* (click here for chart) on dirt at Santa Anita.
The victory was her first start since she rallied for a win in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on turf on Oct. 13.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With a foot problem apparently behind her, Paga can launch her 2002 campaign a day early in Monday's $100,000 Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita.
Last summer, Paga made a flashy U.S. debut with a neck win in the restricted Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar. She followed with a third in the Grade 3 Violet Handicap at The Meadowlands, leading in midstretch before losing by 1 1/2 lengths.
NEW ORLEANS - Sorting out the complexities of Monday's Sugar Bowl Stakes is a confusing process. Embrace the confusion. Don Juan, still a maiden after one start, hardly presents the classic profile of a stakes winner, but may have enough raw ability to pull off an upset in a race in which anything can happen.
MIAMI - Firm turf, a solid pace, and the impeccable timing of Pat Day helped Krisada become a stakes winner Saturday at Calder.
Fourth in the Long Island Handicap last month at Aqueduct, Krisada turned the tables on her three conquerors by rallying strongly in the stretch and nipping Sweetest Thing on the wire to take the $150,000, Grade 2 La Prevoyante Handicap by a neck. Sweetest Thing, second in the Long Island, was second best again, a head in front of Great Fever.
MIAMI - On a day full of upsets, Profit Option pulled off the biggest surprise by rallying from last to outfinish Deeliteful Irving by a half- length in the $150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap* (click here for chart), feature race on Saturday's Grand Slam II program at Calder.
The 12-race Grand Slam II card drew a crowd of 12,084 and set a track record for combined mutuel handle of $9,461,604.
ALBANY, Calif. - It's not unusual to find a horse who sets fast fractions in route races trying a sprint.
Canadian-based trainer Daryl Snow will send out Quins Return in Monday's co-feature at Golden Gate Fields. But Quins Return is not a typical front-running router. She has shown enough early speed to set the pace in sprints as well.
ARCADIA, Calif. - At the least, the undefeated Earl of Danby enjoys a fight. In Friday's $150,000 open division of the California Breeders' Champion Stakes, Earl of Danby was one of six 2-year-olds trying for the lead after two furlongs and the only one in the group still around at the finish, winning the race by a length.
OLDSMAR Fla. - He's 6, and a headstrong, somewhat unpredictable son of Hooched - one of racing's better low-priced studs - but when Meaningful sets his mind to running he can turn some heads. That's just what he did at Tampa Bay Downs on Friday in the ninth race when he pulled away from the competition through the stretch for a convincing win, the third for L&D Farms and trainer Juan Camilo at the current meeting.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association might want to consider changing the Gallant Fox Handicap* (click here for chart) to the Coyote Lakes Handicap for the 2002 running.
On Saturday at Aqueduct, Coyote Lakes, making his fourth consecutive Gallant Fox appearance, won the Grade 3 for the second time. Actually, for the second time in 2001 since the 2000 running was postponed due to a weather-related cancellation and run in 2001.
Dancing Missile immediately went to the lead from his outside post, and then gamely held off a sustained inside run from Personal First for the first stakes victory of his career in Saturday's $50,000 Holiday Cheer Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Dancing Missile, a 3-year-old Canaveral colt owned by Joe Haller, prevailed by a half-length in the six-furlong Holiday Cheer. Ridden by Justin Vitek, he returned $10.80 as fourth choice in a field of eight.
