Sat, 05/25/2013 - 16:29

Parx: Winning Image takes My Juliet for second time

Equi-Photo
Winning Image, with Jose Caraballo aboard, captures the six-furlong My Juliet by 2 1/4 lengths.

Three early scratches left Winning Image as the lone speed in a three-horse field and she proceeded to capitalize on that advantage to capture the $75,000 My Juliet Stakes at Parx Racing for the second straight year on Saturday.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 16:13

Woodbine: I'm a Kittyhawk wins stakes debut in Lady Angela

Michael Burns
I'm a Kittyhawk wins the Lady Angela Stakes by a half-length over Rootham Triple E's at Woodbine on Saturday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – I’m a Kittyhawk won her stakes debut at Woodbine on Saturday, taking the $125,000 Lady Angela as the second-longest shot on the board with a fine ride from David Moran.

Moran rated I’m a Kittyhawk in midpack during the seven-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies. She split horses at the quarter pole and then wore down the leading Rootham Triple E’s in deep stretch for a half-length score in 1:23.82.

Pipers Future finished four lengths behind the winner in third, 1 1/2 lengths clear of the 3-5 favorite, Strut the Course.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:51

Belmont Park: Midnight Lucky, Kauai Katie meet in Acorn

Barbara D. Livingston
Midnight Lucky, fifth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 3, gets another shot at a Grade 1 victory in the Acorn Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – As impressive as Midnight Lucky had trained leading up to the Kentucky Oaks, it simply might have been too much to ask for her to win a race like that in her third career start.

Having seemingly emerged from her fifth-place finish in the Oaks in good order, Midnight Lucky will get another Grade 1 opportunity in Monday’s $300,000 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park.

Midnight Lucky, one of six 3-year-old fillies entered in the one-turn, one-mile Acorn, will seek to give trainer Bob Baffert his third victory in this race in the last five years.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:46

Emerald Downs: Front-runners Dream Caller, Roarified hard to separate

AUBURN, Wash. – A $10,000 claimer for fillies and mares will serve as the featured race Monday at Emerald Downs. First post for the nine-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.

Front-runners Dream Caller and Roarified are likely to attract the most interest among the seven entrants in the six-furlong feature.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:44

Lone Star: Master Rick, Prayer for Relief give Asmussen pair of aces for Handicap

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Steve Asmussen has left few prizes unclaimed at his home track of Lone Star Park, where he ranks as the all-time winningest trainer with 1,043 local victories and $23 million in stable earnings. But one major stakes has eluded Asmussen, and on Monday he appears primed to win his first Lone Star Park Handicap.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:27

Mountaineer Park: Full fields make for interesting turf allowances Tuesday

Two full fields of turf sprinters – all seeking their second lifetime victory and most with little or no experience racing on grass – make for a difficult early daily double Tuesday evening at Mountaineer Park.

The first two races on a nine-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern are seven-furlong allowances for nonwinners of two lifetime. Handicappers looking for a simplistic approach might do well by keying the two horses trained by J. Michael Baird – R. J. Says in the opener and Rocko’s Gizmo in race 3.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:18

Belmont Stakes: Golden Soul has workout delayed

Barbara D. Livingston
Golden Soul has been galloping steadily since the Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Dallas Stewart decided on Saturday to wait at least one more day to breeze his Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul.

[BELMONT STAKES: Probable field and latest updates]

Golden Soul has been training steadily, but has not breezed, since finishing 2 1/2 lengths behind Orb in the May 4 Derby. Stewart has been hesitant to commit to a specific date for a workout, which he said “will be a real easy-half mile anyway. The horse is doing great in his gallops every day.”

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:16

Belmont: Some space between Joyful Victory, Believe You Can in Phipps Handicap

Shigeki Kikkawa
Joyful Victory, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita in March, will run May 27 in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Despite there being only six horses in the race, trainer Larry Jones had some trepidation before post positions were drawn for Monday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park.

Running two horses with similar running styles – Grade 1 winners Joyful Victory and Believe You Can – Jones did not want the two front-runners next to each other.

So, Jones was quite pleased when Joyful Victory drew the rail and Believe You Can post 6 in the Phipps.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:07

Belmont Park: Watsdachances has score to settle in Sands Point Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
After running an impressive second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Watsdachances received a winter freshening.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Watsdachances, beaten at odds-on by Unbelievable Dream in the Appalachian Stakes last month, will look to even the score in Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park.

The 19th running of the Sands Point, scheduled for the inner turf at 1 1/16 miles, drew six 3-year-old fillies for turf, along with main-track-only entrant Fusaichiswonderful. It is carded as the seventh of 11 races, and is the first leg of an all-stakes pick four with a $500,000 guaranteed pool. Post time is 4:13  p.m. Eastern.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:03

Monmouth Park: Bella Castani looks solid in Little Silver

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Bella Castani puts a two-race winning streak on the line as the solid favorite on Monday in the Little Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Monmouth Park.

The Little Silver and Red Cross for female sprinters, both worth $60,000, are the leading events on the 11-race holiday card starting at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

After a maiden win at Gulfstream Park, Bella Castani headed north to Belmont Park for a rallying victory in the Tweedside Stakes as the 4-5 choice.