OLDSMAR Fla. - It's about the last thing rival horsemen want to hear, but it looks like trainer Tom Proctor has another runner in his barn.
Proctor had won seven races from his first 13 starters at the meet coming into Friday's program, and then the son of the great horseman Willard Proctor sent out one of his more promising Glen Hill Farm runners in the eighth race. Joyful Ballad, a long-striding daughter of Saint Ballado, had dead-heated for the win in a seven-furlong maiden sprint here
ARCADIA, Calif. - It did not take long for jockey Jon Court to get to know Valentine Dancer at Santa Anita on Saturday.
A race-day replacement for the suspended Patrick Valenzuela, Court rode Valentine Dancer for the first time in the $500,000 . He gave her a perfect ride to score a narrow victory.
Valentine Dancer ($10.80) finished 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:46.31, the only win of the day at Santa Anita by a California-bred in the four-race Sunshine Millions series against Florida-breds.
Mooji Moo was due for a victory when she started as a longshot in the $300,000 .
Since last summer, Mooji Moo has followed a stakes loss with a stakes victory. The Filly and Mare Sprint was her fourth stakes win in the last year, a span that includes wins in the Regret and Red Cross Stakes at Monmouth Park and the Bluff's Dividend Stakes at Calder last month.
In her previous start, she ran second in the Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 3.
Saint Afleet won the $250,000 , leading or disputing the pace throughout and holding off stretch-long challenges from Cheiron, Ice Wynnd Fire, and Don'tsellmeshort, the second- through fourth-place finishers.
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Saint Afleet chased Dad's Lessons on the backstretch, dueled with Don'tsellmeshort around the turn and then overcame late threats from Cheiron and Ice Wynnd Fire to win by a head.
A Florida-bred, Saint Afleet ($8.60) finished six furlongs in 1:08.68.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - As the highly touted filly Pesci failed to get out of a high gallop Saturday in the Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream Park, Joe Pesci and his sizable entourage sat subdued and slack-jawed.
They weren't the only ones.
Secret Request rallied between horses to pull off a 74-1 upset in the $500,000 , leaving all but a lonely few in the crowd of 25,179 in quiet disbelief.
Give the best horse in the race a perfect trip and the results will usually be the kind of one-sided victory Shake You Down recorded over six overmatched rivals in the $300,000 .
Shake You Down, one of the premier sprinters in the country last season, tracked the pace of longshot Love My Mountain, opened an easy lead around the turn, then coasted to a three-length victory over California invader Green Team in the six-furlong Sunshine Sprint. Valid Video, the only Grade 1 winner in the field, raced wide and finished third, a neck behind Green Team.
Proud Man, who has suffered some tough losses in major races during his career, finally came out on the right side of a close decision - he rallied to catch the 25-1 shot Hear No Evil in deep stretch to register a half-length victory in the $500,000 .
It's certainly not the way a 1-5 shot is supposed to win, but Silent Sighs found just enough room and mustered just enough run to nip Wacky Patty by a head in the $250,000 .
"That was the hard way," said Marty Wygod, who with his wife, Pam, bred and owns Silent Sighs in California.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Pro Prado caught 3-5 favorite Wildcat Shoes at the wire to win the $50,000 Mountain Valley Stakes before a crowd of 25,780 at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. With the win, trainer Bob Holthus and jockey John McKee swept the two opening-weekend stakes at Oaklawn.
On Friday, they teamed to win the $50,000 Dixie Belle for 3-year-old fillies with Saltwater Runner.
Gators N Bears, bet from 5-2 on the morning line to 3-5 at post time, ran like a good thing should, opening a three-length lead in the stretch and holding on to win the $75,000 Hoover.
Ridden aggressively by Rick Wilson, Gators N Bears hustled out of the gate to press front-runner Native Heir on the front end for a quarter-mile, moved to command midway on the turn and opened up, and then dug in tenaciously to beat the fast-closing My Good Trick by a half-length.
