ARCADIA, Calif. – Chips All In won the first graded stakes of his career in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 San Simeon Stakes at Santa Anita, the beneficiary of an ideal ride from jockey Tyler Baze.
Chips All In was third on the hillside portion of the turf course, stalking even-money favorite Obviously for the first six furlongs. Chips All In was within 1 1/2 lengths of the leader with a furlong remaining and wore down Obviously to win by a half-length.
“It was a perfect trip,” Baze said.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Departing will not run in the Kentucky Derby, but his win Saturday at Hawthorne in the Illinois Derby suggested he is among the elite members of this year’s 3-year-old crop.
Breaking from post 13 and racing wide around both turns, Departing powered to the lead at the top of the long Hawthorne stretch and scored an impressive 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby.
CHARLES TOWN, W. Va. - Lucy’s Bob Boy skipped the big money to go for the easy money.
Eschewing a start in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic, the connections of Lucy’s Bob Boy were satisfied to let their 4-year-old gelding continue his domination of West Virginia-breds with a front-running, five-length victory in Saturday’s $50,000 Confucius Say Stakes on the Classic undercard.
Rummy’s Command got up for second with Fred High third.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s always a case of the rich getting richer when Todd Pletcher sends out a winner, but the results of the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland provided an interesting twist to that familiar scenario.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Considering how little his day-to-day has to do with Chicago racing, Todd Pletcher has carved quite a niche in the Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap. Pletcher won his fourth Sixty Sails on Saturday with Disposablepleasure, who, like his previous race winners, Fleet Indian and Life At Ten, looked like a very progressive horse winning here at Hawthorne.
Neither some extremely bad gate manners nor a slow start could prevent Bold Affair from winning the $75,000 Primonetta Stakes at Pimlico for the second straight year.
Bold Affair ($3), the best older female sprinter in Maryland, normally gives the assistant starters trouble loading into the gate. But she was more temperamental than usual Saturday. Jockey Abel Castellano had to dismount and it took five men to finally get the 5-year-old Bold Affair into the gate.
“She always has a hard time to get into the gate,” Castellano said. “I was just glad we finally got in.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Lady of Shamrock won Saturday’s $150,000 Santa Barbara Handicap at Santa Anita in the stewards' room.
After finishing second by 1 1/2 lengths to pacesetter Viva Carina, Lady of Shamrock was put up to first when the stewards reversed the order of finish, ruling that Viva Carina drifted to the inside in the final furlong and interfered with Lady of Shamrock.
Viva Carina was an 8-1 shot; Lady of Shamrock was favored and paid $2.60. Viva Carina ran 1 1/4 miles on turf in 2:00.91.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Outsider Rootham Triple E’s gamely turned back the favored Leinan in the stretch to notch her first stakes win in Saturday’s $168,000 Star Shoot, the opening-day feature at Woodbine.
Just Got In set fast, wind-aided splits of 21.80 and 44.48 seconds, while Rootham Triple E’s stalked in third heading into the turn. Rootham Triple E’s made a two-wide bid for the lead inside the quarter pole and went on to prevail by a half-length in 1:10.87.
Summer Front displayed the form that made him a two-time stakes winner as a 3-year-old last season when he rallied from fourth in the stretch to score as the odds-on favorite in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Miami Mile at Calder.
In his first start of the season last month, Summer Front encountered some traffic trouble and did well to make a late move to pick up a third-place finish against high-priced optional claimers. That prep was clearly enough to have him ready to fire his best shot Saturday.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella is preparing the major stakes winners Champ Pegasus and Indy Point for stakes at Hollywood Park.
Champ Pegasus, unraced since a second in the Grade 2 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship in October 2011 at Santa Anita, is a candidate for the $200,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on turf June 8.
Champ Pegasus, 7, won the 2010 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship when the race was a Grade 1 and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs that year. Champ Pegasus was sidelined by a series of injuries in 2012.
