VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Bluegrass Pride ($5.30) rallied from well back to win the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial at Hastings on Sunday. His strong performance gives trainer Craig MacPherson a strong one-two punch for the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby on Sept. 8.
On Saturday, MacPherson was at Northlands Park to saddle Reporting Star, who finished second behind Broadway Empire in the Grade 3, $200,000 Canadian Derby.
AUBURN, Wash. – E Z Kitty raced to a resounding victory Sunday in the $65,000 Emerald Distaff at Emerald Downs, taking the suburban Seattle track’s traditional championship for older fillies and mares with surprising ease.
E Z Kitty ran nine furlongs in 1:49.24 to win by 3 1/2 lengths and paid $9 as the third choice in a field of seven.
E Z Kitty, a 5-year-old by He’s Tops, a son of Seattle Slew, won for the 11th time in 21 career starts – posting her seventh career stakes victory – and easily passed her first test at 1 1/8 miles.
Cloud Harbor pulled a 20-1 upset in the $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe Park on Sunday, when he tracked and pounced for a one-length win over Ima Happy Strike. It was another 6 3/4 lengths back to Da Belldozer in third.
Cloud Harbor ($43.80) invaded from New Mexico for the Gold Rush, a six-furlong race that closed out the meet at Arapahoe. He had won a maiden special weight race at Ruidoso Downs by five lengths in his only other start. Cloud Harbor was an odds-on favorite in that July 27 race.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Reneesgotzip made a track record look easy with a cozy win in Sunday’s $150,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at Del Mar.
Ridden by a confident Garrett Gomez, Reneesgotzip led throughout the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo, running 6 1/2 furlongs in a track-record time of 1:14.48. The previous mark of 1:14.93 was set by Carlsbad in the 2009 Rancho Bernardo.
Diavoletto saved ground to upper stretch and was all out to get up in time and win the $50,000 Honey Jay Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Thistledown on Sunday.
Trained by Mike Rone and ridden by Augustin Bracho, Diavoletto was swung out into the stretch and split horses late to win in 1:10.02 for six furlongs over a fast track. Sneak a Cold Treat set quick fractions but tired to settle for second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of the late-closing Pyrite Green in third.
The 2012 Ohio Sprinter of the Year, Diavoletto returned $12.80 to win.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – What a weekend for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Joe Bravo.
On Saturday, they teamed up to win the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga with Big Blue Kitten. On Sunday at Monmouth Park, they struck again as Last Gunfighter edged San Pablo in a stirring renewal of the Grade 3, $148,500 Philip H. Iselin Stakes.
Last Gunfighter and San Pablo, the defending Iselin winner, hooked up turning for home in a slugfest to the wire. Last Gunfighter and Bravo mustered one final surge, edging San Pablo by a head.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The favored Up With the Birds pulled away late after some anxious moments to take the 123rd running of the $500,800 Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, at Woodbine on Sunday.
Up With the Birds ($3.10) raced in midpack under Eurico Rosa da Silva as longshot Dragon Puff set slow fractions over firm turf in the 1 1/2-mile marathon. Up With the Birds made his way to the lead exiting the far turn and then put away River Seven in the stretch to prevail by 2 3/4 lengths in 2:28.69.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The favored Forte Dei Marmi ($4.40) won the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes for the second year in a row Sunday at Woodbine and lowered the 1 1/4-mile course record under Eurico Rosa da Silva.
After racing in fifth on the backstretch, Forte Dei Marmi commenced a three-wide rally on the far turn and then hit the front near the eighth pole before drawing clear for a 2 1/4-length tally over Hampstead Heath.
After pressing a moderate early pace, Grand Arch wound up third. He was followed by Hotep, Irish Mission, Perfect Timber, Classic Bryce, and Peyton.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Silentio, the winner of the Grade 2 Sir Beaufort Stakes at Santa Anita in December, has not started since finishing fifth to reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland in April.
