ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The improving Coffee Clique came from off a sizzling pace to land her first stakes win in the Grade 3, $156,300 Selene at Woodbine on Sunday.
Racing with a substantial lead, longshot Leigh Court set fractions of 23.24 seconds, 46.66, and 1:11.48 in the 1 1/16-mile route for 3-year-old fillies. She began to tire on the far turn, and Coffee Clique hit the front early in the stretch and went on to score by four lengths in a snappy 1:43.63.
Deniro's Saint, under jockey Rodrigo Vergara, prompted the pace to the outside of heavy favorite Blazing Bling to upper stretch and drew clear to win by two lengths in the $50,000 Tomboy Stakes at Beulah Park on Sunday.
A 3-year-old Ohio-bred filly trained by Joshua Faulkner, Deniro's Saint drifted out a bit in the stretch but still was good enough to hold sway late.
Blazing Bling, under Deshawn Parker, set the pace but gave way late and finished second, 10 1/2 lengths in front of She's the Prize in third.
ALTOONA, Iowa – The Ray Tracy-trained duo of Wolf Pack Jack and Rushin' Rubietta dominated their Iowa-bred foes Saturday evening in the $68,650 Gray's Lake Stakes, a six-furlong race that attracted seven 3-year-old geldings.
Taking advantage of a blistering early pace, Cho Cho Cat staged a furious rally from last in the final furlong to win Saturday night’s $50,000 Tellike Stakes at Evangeline Downs.
Going to Kukaro, co-favored with Storm’s Promise at 5-2 in the five-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares, forced the issue before putting a head in front a furlong out but was unable to contain the winner. Cowgirl N Up finished third, followed by Storm’s Promise.
BALTIMORE – Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. expressed satisfaction Sunday morning that his 3-year-old Itsmyluckyday bounced back from his 15th-place non-effort in the Kentucky Derby with a solid second-place finish in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
[bc_video_id:292828:]BALTIMORE – Oxbow, the winner of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, left Pimlico Race Course early Sunday morning, and a couple of hours later, so too did Orb, who won the Kentucky Derby and was fourth in the Preakness.
Betting on the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore on Saturday was $54.15 million, according to the official chart of the race, down 3.2 percent from wagering on the race last year and nearly $5 million off the record set in 2009.
This year’s Preakness had nine runners, compared to 11 last year. Orb, who finished fourth, was the 7-10 favorite at post time, with the other eight horses in the race all going off at odds between 8-1 and 22-1. Oxbow won the race at 15-1.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The strategy worked on turf early in the afternoon and again later in the day on the main track. Jockey Joe Talamo swept the two stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park aboard 4-year-old fillies that had perfect trips from off the pace.
Open Water ($21.40) benefited from a speed duel to win the $150,250 Marjorie Everett Handicap for fillies and mares on the synthetic main track. Earlier in the afternoon, Unusual Hottie closed from third under Talamo to win the $100,500 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares on turf.
BALTIMORE – Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey admitted to allowing himself to dream about the possibility of going for a Triple Crown with Kentucky Derby winner Orb in the June 8 Belmont Stakes.
“I tried to focus on today the whole time, but I wouldn’t be telling you the truth if I didn’t think down the line a little bit,” McGaughey said. “I thought if we could get it done today, that going back to Belmont, we would really be comfortable there, and we would really have a big chance.”
