A far cleaner trip in a much smaller field helped the millionaire turf sprinter Ben’s Cat turn the tables on Tightend Touchdown in Friday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash Handicap at Parx Racing.
Shuffled extremely wide and forced to steady when one of his nine rivals bore out badly in last month’s Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National, Ben’s Cat finished 7 1/4 lengths behind front-running Tightend Touchdown on June 1. The rematch, however, unfolded far differently.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lady of Shamrock, the California-based filly who was second in the Grade 2 New York Handicap at Belmont Park on June 29, will be pointed for the $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park, trainer John Sadler said.
Lady of Shamrock returned to California last Tuesday and resumed track training on Thursday. In the New York Handicap, Lady of Shamrock closed from last of eight in the race at 1 1/4 miles on turf to finish second by 1 3/4 lengths to the 15-1 outsider Starformer.
Hardrock Eleven, who ran in a pair of preps for this year’s Kentucky Derby, will make his second straight turf start Sunday in the eighth race at Louisiana Downs. He is part of a 12-horse field in a first-level allowance to be run at 7 1/2 furlongs. Others set to start include Sweetcarolinamoon, a 3-year-old son of Carolina Sky, a mare who won multiple turf stakes at Louisiana Downs.
Oneotwo crashed the Inaugural at Arapahoe Park back in May when she defeated males at 20-1. She’s back in action for the first time since then on Sunday, and will be a much shorter price when she returns to racing with fillies in the Colorado track’s $40,000 George Wafer Memorial.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The 2013 stakes winners Bright Thought and Tale of a Champion have had their summer campaign disrupted by minor injuries.
Bright Thought and Tale of a Champion were considered candidates for the $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 20, but may not start until the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap over 1 3/8 miles on turf on Aug. 24.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin had simple instructions for Joel Rosario before his ride on Villanesca in Friday’s $100,000 Magnolia Jackson Stakes at Belmont Park.
“Try to get to the winner’s circle,” McLaughlin said he told Rosario. “You’re winning for everybody else. I’m not going to tell you to lay first or fourth.”
Silver Tongued was voted Ohio 2-year-old of the year off his win in the $75,000 J.W.Galbraith at Thistledown last fall and he returns to the Cleveland track seeking his second lifetime win in the $75,0000 Daniel Stearns Cleveland Gold Cup for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds on Sunday.
Trained by Jeff Greenhill, Silver Tongued came from far back early in the 1 1/16-mile Galbraith, part of the Best of Ohio series last Oct. 12, to win by 3 1/2 lengths at 23-1. He is winless in five subsequent starts.
Eblouissante, the half-sister to champion Zenyatta who has not raced since January, had her fifth five-furlong workout at Belmont Park on Friday morning, going 1:01.67 in company with Death Star.
“I thought she went really well. I was very happy,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “She galloped out another half-mile.”
AUBURN, Wash. – E Z Kitty and Exclusive Diva, the cream of the filly and mare crop in the Pacific Northwest, will meet in Round 4 of their budding rivalry Sunday in the $50,000 Boeing Handicap at Emerald Downs. First post for the 10-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.
MIAMI – The battle for entries on the south Florida circuit began in earnest Thursday, with the racing offices at both Calder and Gulfstream Park struggling to fill eight-race programs for Sunday. The tracks are scheduled to race head to head on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer.
