The house horse delivered in the stakes Monday at Fort Erie, in Fort Erie, Ontario, as Golden Returns, owned by Victor and Rosanne Deschenes, won the $54,900 Expedite Plus by 2 1/4 lengths.
Deschenes, proprietor of the courier company Expedite Plus, sponsored the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward.
Balancethebudget broke like a bullet, with Golden Returns - who had started just inside that one in post 1 - angling out to assume a stalking position in second place.
Stage Classic, a gelding who shipped in from Ontario, held off the late surge of Fancy As to win the $100,000 Manitoba Derby by three quarters of a length Monday at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The 6-5 favorite under regular rider Constant Montpellier, Stage Classic tracked locally based hopeful Corporate Shuffle from the start in the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds.
When Corporate Shuffle, who had been undefeated in seven races here, gave way around the final turn, Stage Classic quickly took charge, and went on to record his first stakes victory.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Hastings Park surface usually favors horses with early speed, but after a steady pelting of rain leading up to the first two days of the B.C. Cup Saturday and Sunday, the wet track took a surprising turn, and horses who came from off the pace those days had a decided advantage. It also helped if they weren't down on the rail, where horses seemed to get bogged down.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Last Friday, Bob Tiller intimated there was a 90 percent chance Win City would forgo this Saturday's Breeders' Stakes in favor of the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park on the same day.
On Monday morning, Win City was declared a candidate for the $500,000 Breeders', which is the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Ever hear of two horses getting winner's shares from the same race without a dead heat?
It happened at Northlands Park after an appeal was upheld.
In a decision worthy of King Solomon, the appeal tribunal of the Alberta Racing Corporation has created two winners instead of upholding the disqualification of an alleged offending horse.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nymphenburg rallied inside under Gary Boulanger to capture her first stakes Monday at Woodbine in the $133,750 Victoriana for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.
Knight Dancer set moderate fractions in the 1 1/16-mile turf race while being tracked by Love a Ruckus, Cruel Dawn, and Lady Brook. Nymphenburg raced about five lengths off the lead on the backstretch, and loomed into contention at the top of the lane. She awaited room along the rail early in the stretch, then darted through a hole nearing the eighth pole before drawing off to win by three lengths.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Dick Clark, the all-time leading trainer at Prairie Meadows and president of the Iowa Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, has received a 14-day suspension and a $1,000 fine from the Prairie Meadows stewards for a procaine positive on Omarfairleygreen, who ran second in the sixth race, a $4,000 claiming event, here June 12.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A couple of changes will often do a horse a world of good.
A case in point is Indian Dan, who wasn't competitive in his three spring outings over Woodbine's main track, after which trainer John Ross had him gelded.
Indian Dan won his debut on turf when he returned from a layoff July 6, and should be among the favorites in Wednesday's $105,500 Vice Regent Stakes, a one-mile turf race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Although he drops in class, returns to a turf course that has been kind to speed, and hails from high-powered connections, Strategic Mission is far from a sure thing in Wednesday's feature race at Saratoga.
Strategic Mission heads a field of seven entered in a classified allowance race at one mile over the inner turf course. Five additional horses have been entered for the main track only.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Paga, a multiple stakes winner in Argentina last year, will not have an easy time in her U.S. debut, Wednesday's $75,000 Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar.
With an overflow field of 14, which will be limited to 10 starters, the front-running Paga will be challenged throughout the Osunitas, run at 1 1/16 miles on turf for fillies and mares.
Trained by Richard Mandella, Paga was Argentina's top miler in 2000, winning three stakes at that distance. The Osunitas will be the longest race of her career, which includes four wins in six starts.
