OCEANPORT, N.J. – Ju Ju Eyeballs won the $61,200 Just Smashing Stakes for 3-year-old filly sprinters Sunday to cap a weekend of stakes upsets at Monmouth Park for jockey Paco Lopez.
On Saturday, Lopez guided Hard Enough to a 12-1 score in the Jersey Derby. One day later, Lopez and Ju Ju Eyeballs took the Just Smashing at 6-1, as Blueeyesintherein, the 4-5 favorite, ran fifth.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Wired Bryan, the only New York-bred in the field, gave trainer Michael Dilger the first graded stakes winner and the first stakes victory of any kind in his brief career when drawing off to a convincing 5 1/4-length decision over the 22-1 Southern Blessing in Sunday’s $200,000 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bruce Brown thought he had an up-and-coming turf-sprint stakes horse in the 4-year-old Spring to the Sky. But in Sunday’s $100,000 Fiddlers Patriot Stakes at Saratoga, it was the hard-knocking 7-year-old Strong Impact who got the job done for Brown.
Getting a ground-saving trip from Alex Solis, Strong Impact rallied powerfully in the stretch and ran down the pacesetting Tightend Touchdown to win by three-quarters of a length. Tightend Touchdown held second by a half-length over Varsity.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association held its Stallion Auction Stakes on Sunday at Canterbury Park. The two races, run at 6 1/2 furlongs and carrying purses of $35,000 each, were run over a sloppy surface after morning storms saturated the racetrack.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – So Long George ($23.60) notched his first stakes win after an ideal inside trip under Emma-Jayne Wilson in the $216,000 Nijinsky at Woodbine on Sunday.
So Long George stalked in fourth on the backstretch and through the turn in the Grade 2 fixture. Artic Fern and Grand Arch linked up on the lead through moderate fractions over the firm ground before Grand Arch assumed command in the stretch.
So Long George came through an opening along the rail near the top of the lane and went on to prevail by three-quarters of a length over 22-1 shot Hampstead Heath.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Leigh Court, coming off a second-place finish in the 6 1/2-furlong prep for the Duchess Stakes, became a stakes winner in the main event here Sunday.
Under a heads-up ride by Gary Boulanger, Leigh Court assumed command on the far turn and cut out moderate fractions en route to a 5 1/2-length victory in the $125,750 Duchess, an open, seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice completed his serious preparation for Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes by working a half-mile in 49.69 seconds Sunday over Saratoga’s main track.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott was understandably in a jovial mood Sunday morning, roughly 16 hours after Royal Delta dominated Saturday’s Grade 1 Delaware Handicap by 10 3/4 lengths.
The win ended a two-race losing streak for the dual champion mare and was reminiscent of the brilliance she had displayed previously in her career.
Total handle was up slightly from last year, although on-track handle was down significantly, at the recently concluded Belmont Park spring-summer meet, according to figures released Sunday by the New York Racing Association.
Total handle on Belmont’s races was $573 million, up 1.2 percent from $566 million in 2012. On-track handle was $78 million, down 10.4 percent from $88 million wagered in 2012.
OPELOUSAS, La. – Miss Addison picked up her first stakes win in Saturday night’s $50,000 Matron at Evangeline Downs. Pacesetter and favorite Little Polka Dot finished 1 1/2 lengths back in second, followed by Burning Creole.
