INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Ending an autumn of disappointment, Habibti scored an important win in the $358,000 * on Sunday at Hollywood Park, holding off a late rally from longtime leader You.
Ridden by Victor Espinoza for trainer Bob Baffert, Habibti ($6) finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.12, winning by a head. The Starlet was Habibti's second win in a Grade 1, but first around two turns. She won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante over seven furlongs in August.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Jockey Richard Migliore, a longtime leading rider on the New York circuit, hired Drew Mollica as his agent, effective Jan. 1.
Migliore, who has been represented by Mike Sellito for the past 4 1/2 years, said one of the reasons behind the change came as a result of the time Sellito was spending at his Florida home.
Migliore spent the last three winters riding at Gulfstream Park, but decided to stay at Aqueduct this winter so he could be with his wife and four children.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The line of demarcation was drawn in Saturday's Grade 1, $456,750 *, as Siphonic romped to a victory that stamped him as the best 2002 Kentucky Derby prospect in the United States, and favored Officer struggled home third in a performance that took him out of the Derby picture.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After a season occasionally plagued by difficult luck, Starrer ended her 3-year-old campaign on Sunday with a hard-fought win in Saturday's $150,000 Bayakoa Handicap* (click here for chart) at Hollywood Park.
Scoring her second stakes win of the year, Starrer prevailed in a stretch-long duel against Queenie Belle. The Grade 2 Dahlia came six months after Starrer won the Grade 2 Princess Stakes over this same track.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Texas Glitter's annual trip to California ends Monday with a title defense in the $70,000 Dayjur Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Last year, Texas Glitter made two starts at the Hollywood Park fall meeting, finishing second by a head in the Grade 3 Hollywood Turf Express and winning the Dayjur by a similar margin.
This year, he was fourth in the Hollywood Turf Express on Nov. 23, losing by 1 1/2 lengths to Swept Overboard. On Monday, Texas Glitter is the probable favorite against six others in the Dayjur, run over 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.
NEW ORLEANS - It's tough to win on the lead over the Fair Grounds turf course. It's also tough to beat Tom Amoss at Fair Grounds.
The Amoss-trained La Recherche led all the way and won the $100,000 Pago Hop Handicap* (click here for chart) on Saturday, holding on by a nose to beat Twilite Tryst, who made an amazing dash through the stretch to narrowly miss victory. Stal Quest closed to finish third, another nose back, in a blanket finish.
MIAMI - Take her to the outside and hope she gets up in time. That was the strategy trainer Shug McGaughey laid out for Amelia in Saturday's $100,000 Frances A. Genter Stakes, and his plan worked to perfection as the late-striding filly raced wide off the final turn and ran down the leaders. She outfinished a hedge-hugging Sara's Success by a neck in the 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-old fillies.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - When horseplayers start handicapping Tampa Bay Downs cards in these opening days of the race meeting, the difference between profit and loss could well boil down to how they treat horses who have been running at Calder Race Course.
History shows that in the first month or so of a meeting, horses coming up from Calder win more than horses who have been racing at any other track.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Richard Dutrow Jr. has trained for Samantha, Mace, and Jan Siegel for four years but never won a stakes for them. That changed on Saturday at Aqueduct when the Dutrow-trained Here's Zealous won the $107,900 Gravesend Handicap* (click here for chart) for the Siegels.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A confident ride from Garrett Gomez put Verruma into the winner's circle of Saturday's $150,000 Dahlia Handicap* (click here for chart), but only after her backers got a thrill watching her weave her way through the Hollywood Park stretch.
Verruma was seventh of eight on the backstretch, and reached contention on the final turn. Gomez had her two-wide entering the stretch and angled to the inside in midstretch, just behind the leaders. Using a quick turn of foot, Verruma rallied to win by a half-length over Vencera.
