JAMAICA, N.Y. - Left Bank capped a breakthrough year for himself and a wonderful afternoon for his trainer, Todd Pletcher, and jockey, John Velazquez, by rolling to a 3 1/4-length, front-running victory in Saturday's $350,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.
Graeme Hall, also trained by Pletcher, rallied to finish second, a head in front of Red Bullet. Volponi, Affirmed Success, Peeping Tom, Ticket to Freedom, and Capsized completed the order of finish.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - An afternoon of rain that softened the Hollywood turf course kept Val Royal out of Saturday's $500,000 Citation Handicap, but Good Journey relished the course and won the Grade 2 race by a half-length.
Good Journey closed from fifth to outfinish Decarchy over a course rated good. The victory was Good Journey's first stakes win.
Spook Express, coming off a second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf last month at Belmont Park, suffered a fatal injury nearing the finish of the grade 1 Matriarch Sunday afternoon at Hollywood Park and had to be euthanized.
After racing at the back of the field, jockey Mike Smith said Spook Express hit a "funny spot" near the sixteenth pole. Spook Express was euthanized after being diagnosed with a compound luxation of her left fetlock joint. Smith was not hurt.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Bobby Frankel swept Sunday's two $500,000 races at Hollywood Park on Sunday, winning the Matriarch Stakes* with Starine and the Hollywood Derby with Denon.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Stoli, who won the All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs in September, earned a berth to the $500,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 16 following a victory in Friday's time trials.
Stoli was one of five Quarter Horses that qualified from Friday's trials. In the finals, they will be joined by five others who secured berths with wins in major races over the last year.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Swept Overboard left it to the last stride before stealing a win from the hard-luck Speak in Passing in Friday's $200,000 Hollywood Turf Express at Hollywood Park.
Ninth in a 10-horse field on the final turn, Swept Overboard ($4.20) rallied wide under Eddie Delahoussaye to get up at the line, finishing 5 1-2 furlongs on turf in 1:01.86.
"I think I aged five years," owner Paul Reddam said after waiting three minutes for the result to be announced.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - An afternoon of rain kept Breeders' Cup Mile winner Val Royal out of Saturday's $500,000 Citation Handicap* (click here for chart) but it gave Good Journey a turf course that more resembled a European surface than Hollywood Park.
Racing over a course rated good, Good Journey closed from fifth to outfinish Decarchy, winning by a half-length. The Grade 2 Citation was Good Journey's first stakes win.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Left Bank capped a breakthrough year for himself and a wonderful afternoon for his trainer, Todd Pletcher, and jockey, John Velazquez, by rolling to a 3 1/4-length, front-running victory in Saturday's $350,000 Cigar Mile* (click here for chart) at Aqueduct.
Graeme Hall, also trained by Pletcher, rallied to finish second, a head in front of Red Bullet. Volponi, Affirmed Success, Peeping Tom, Ticket to Freedom, and Capsized completed the order of finish.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Call it a harrowing experience, or call it a learning experience.
Whatever it was, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes* (click here for chart) resulted in a difficult but well-earned victory Saturday for heavily favored Repent, who fought his way through one trouble spot after another to win the Grade 2 race by 1 1/4 lengths. He returned $3.60 to win.
"I don't have that much hair left," said Repent's mostly bald trainer, Ken McPeek.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Saarland made amends for disappointing efforts in the Champagne and Breeders' Cup Juvenile by getting past Nokoma in the final strides to win Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000, Remsen Stakes* (click here for chart) by a neck before 6,681 at Aqueduct.
