ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jeff Bonde and jockey Roberto Gonzalez cannot explain what happened the last time Great Quest ran at Golden Gate Fields, but they are confident he will do better in Thursday's $32,000 starter allowance feature.
After finishing last in his debut, Great Quest won his second start, a $20,000 maiden claimer. He won by six lengths going wire to wire, and Bonde moved him up to a $32,000 starter allowance race for his next start Nov. 9 at Golden Gate Fields.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - The temperature may indicate otherwise, but a sure sign that winter is on the horizon is the opening of Aqueduct's inner dirt track, which begins its 3 1/2-month run on Wednesday.
The one-mile oval is the smallest of the New York Racing Association's four dirt racing tracks. Yet, at 1,175 feet, the inner track's stretch is the longest of the NYRA dirt tracks. Still, with its tighter turns, a premium is placed on horses with tactical speed and inside post positions.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Queensgate upset 2-5 favorite A Fleets Dancer for his first stakes victory in the $110,400 Valedictory Handicap at Woodbine.
Queensgate, second to A Fleets Dancer in the 2000 Valedictory, raced well off the early pace in the 1 3/4-mile marathon for 3-year-olds and up. A Fleets Dancer stalked front-running Ruff Tuff Stuff, and joined him on the lead through six furlongs in 1:14.08.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - After sitting a perfect stalking trip under Javier Castellano, Lovely Amanda assumed the lead leaving the three-sixteenths pole and galloped to a 7 3/4-length victory in the $81,000 Montauk Handicap for New York-bred fillies and mares at Aqueduct.
Too Scarlet, who set the pace while facing only mild pressure from Along Came Mary, settled for second, 2 1/2 lengths clear of Along Came Mary. Last year's Montauk winner, Pentatonic, the 6-5 favorite and 123-pound highweight, finished a non-threatening fourth.
NEW ORLEANS - He has one less splint bone than before, and a bout of pneumonia sapped his strength earlier this year, but Valhol remains no worse for wear. Making his first start since a third-place finish March 4 in the New Orleans Handicap, Valhol won the $75,000 Tenacious Handicap by a length at Fair Grounds.
Out of Options, claimed in September for $14,000 by owner-trainer Mike Reavis, upset six other Illinois-bred fillies and mares Saturday in the $100,000 Little Sucker Stakes at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Ill.
Ridden by Larry Sterling Jr., Out of Options rallied from fifth to win the 1 1/16-mile race by 1 1/2 lengths over Q.P. Cat, the 5-2 second choice and pacesetter. The winner paid $25.20.
Cottage Rose finished third, another 10 lengths back, while Come September, the 6-5 favorite, faded to fifth after racing second much of the way.
Spanish Glitter went wire to wire under James Lopez in the first stakes of the Turfway Park holiday meet, the $50,000 Holiday Inaugural.
Bred and owned by Fred Kissling and trained by Bernie Flint, Spanish Glitter returned $5.60 as the favorite in a field of 10 fillies and mares. It was the seventh victory in 14 starts this year for Spanish Glitter, a 3-year-old daughter of Glitterman.
City Fair, the second choice, finished second by a half-length, while Marquesa Jen, the third choice, finished third, another five lengths back.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - All blinker changes, regardless of how long a horse has been away from the races, must be conveyed to the public, according to a memo recently sent from California Horse Racing Board executive director Roy Wood to the state's stewards.
Trainers must denote any blinker change at the time of entry, Wood's memo said. Wood ordered this policy to take effect on Dec. 26, the opening day of Santa Anita's winter meeting, but many tracks already are in compliance.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Although he was disqualified from first and placed fourth in a Sunday allowance race at Aqueduct, Griffinite's performance was enough to encourage his connections to strongly consider running him in the $200,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
"The Malibu is a real possibility," trainer Richard Lundy said Monday morning at Aqueduct.