SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - What a difference a year makes.
Last Aug. 5, jockey John Velazquez was involved in a spill in which he suffered a broken collarbone, forcing him to miss the remainder of the Saratoga meeting.
This Aug. 5, Sunday, Velazquez made history at the Spa, becoming just the sixth rider to win five races on one card. Velazquez went 5 for 7 on the day, including a last-to-first victory aboard Starine ($6.80) in the eighth, his final mount of the day.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - What was supposed to be the coming out party for Bonapaw instead turned into the resurrection of Five Star Day.
Bouncing back from three dismal efforts dating back to a last-pace finish in last November's Breeders' Cup Sprint, Five Star Day led every step of the way to take Sunday's $200,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths over Delaware Township. It was two lengths back to 7-5 favorite Bonapaw.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Congaree, who finished a well-beaten third as the 2-5 favorite in Saturday's Jim Dandy, came out of the race with a wrenched right knee and will be out for the rest of the year, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.
"When we got back to the barn, we noticed he was a little off in his right knee," Baffert said Sunday from Monmouth Park where he was to saddle Point Given in the Haskell Invitational. "We had it X-rayed and it came back negative. He just wrenched it. That was the same knee he had problems with last year. He looked better this morning.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Timely Ruckus will have only three adversaries as he seeks to win the $50,000 Sun Sprint Championship for the fourth straight time Monday at Northlands Park.
Trained by Ernie Keller for a group of owners from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Timely Ruckus will carry high weight of 121 pounds in the 6 1/2-furlong Sun Sprint. As usual, Timely Ruckus will be ridden by Stephan Heiler.
Mike K in the Sprint, Lord Nelson in the Classic, and Fabulous Flight in the Distaff all figure to be short prices in the final three races of the B.C. Cup Summer Festival of Racing Monday. While the $65,000 B.C. Cup Classic is usually the featured race during the B.C. Cup, the return of Mike K in the 6 1/2-furlong Sprint is the most anticipated event of the day.
Boots on Sunday made every pole a winning one Friday in the $35,000 J.R. Straus Memorial, opening-night feature at Retama Park near San Antonio. It was 1 1/2 lengths back in second to Lights on Broadway, who was 7 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Lightening Ball.
Boots on Sunday ($3.20) ran six furlongs over a track rated fast in 1:10.86 after setting fractions of 21.91 seconds for the opening quarter and 45 seconds for the half-mile. He earned $21,000 for the win and improved his record to 11 wins from 22 starts. He has earned $258,915.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored American invader Confessional won the Grade 3 Royal North Handicap on Saturday at Woodbine for the second year in a row.
Confessional stalked a three-way pace battle under Ramon Dominguez in the six-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares. Longshots Dreams Go Bye, Sports Flashy, and Bahama Dream vied through splits of 22.11 seconds and 44.86, with Dreams Go Bye emerging with the lead inside the quarter pole.
MIAMI - Flying Birdie used a combination of her blinding speed and the abbreviated five-furlong distance of Saturday's $54,100 Cool Air Handicap to register an easy 4 1/2-length victory over 4-5 favorite Penny Blues. The race was originally scheduled to be run on the turf, but was moved to the main track because of weeklong rains.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Two winning 38-1 shots on Saturday helped to create a pick six carryover of $219,861 at Del Mar for Sunday's program.
Saturday's pick six was difficult from the first leg when Parimac ($79.80) won by a nose over Royal Hill. The other winners of the pick six races were Smart Start ($19.60), Tempera ($3.60), Mega Gift ($39.60), Hilltown ($8.40), and Go ($11.60).
Sunday's pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a nine-race program.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Even for an optimistic trainer, Tempera's nine-length win in Saturday's $150,000 Sorrento Stakes was a surprise for Eoin Harty.
"I thought she'd win, but I didn't think she'd win like that,"he said.
"I hate to sound braggish, but I felt confident."
Tempera gave Harty his first stakes win. In 2000, he became a private trainer for the Maktoum family's Godolphin Racing, operating a 2-year-old division in the United States.