ALBANY, Calif. - Swingn' Notes ($18) outdueled Secret Corsage down the lane to win the $61,100 Corte Madera Stakes on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.
Secret Corsage went for the lead after Very Vegas, who figured to be the pacesetter, was scratched in the morning. She set an honest pace ahead of favored Renaissance Lady but wouldn't rate for rider Ron Warren Jr. and then couldn't hold off Swingn' Notes in the lane.
Swingn' Notes covered the mile in 1:37.76 to win by three-quarters of a length.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The potential for wet weather is a vital factor for handicappers to consider in Monday's $150,000 Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita.
If an expected rainstorm arrives Monday, the race is almost certain to be transferred from about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf to 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt.
A move to the dirt helps the chances of 2003 main track stakes winners Bold Roberta and Icantgoforthat as well as the improving Honest Answer.
MIAMI - Coming off her game victory in the Hollywood Wildcat Stakes, Vous would likely have been the favorite in Thursday's $100,000 Tropical Park Oaks. But after Vous came down with a temperature earlier this week, trainer Tim Hills has decided to pass the race.
MIAMI - Trainer Todd Pletcher had little doubt Balto Star could stay 1 1/2 miles "under the proper circumstances," and those circumstances presented themselves at Calder on Saturday, when Balto Star led throughout to post a 1 1/2-length victory over California invader Continuously in the $200,000 . The Grade 2 McKnight was one of four stakes presented on Saturday's Grand Slam 2 program.
MIAMI - Predawn Raid saved the biggest surprise for last on Saturday's Grand Slam II program at Calder when he led throughout to register an easy 4 1/4-length victory over 122-pound highweight Best of the Rest in the $100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap. Aeneas, the even- money favorite, finished a well beaten fourth.
MIAMI - Volga closed her 2003 campaign in spectacular fashion, drawing away to a surprisingly easy 2 3/4-length victory over Lady Annaliese and a strong field of 11 fillies and mares in Saturday's $200,000 at Calder. The race was marred when Spice Island clipped heels and fell six furlongs into the 1 1/2-mile stakes.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Buckland Manor has single-handedly revived the 2003 racing season for owner John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery and trainer Paco Gonzalez.
Buckland Manor's win in the $78,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes over a mile on dirt Friday at Santa Anita was his third straight.
The win was only Gonzalez's eighth of the year from 65 starters. His private barn for McCaffery and Toffan has 14 horses, with the homebred Buckland Manor the leading runner. In recent years, the stable has included the millionaires Bienamado and Free House.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Southern Image had a right to be tired. After putting every ounce of energy into his winning performance in Friday's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, he was exhausted. So, he will get a few days off, but as far as trainer Mike Machowsky is concerned, Southern Image more than earned it.
"He'll be tired for a few mornings," Machowsky said Saturday. "He gives me so much when he runs. Everything worked out. The problems he had had were aggravating, but I never lost confidence in him."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Island Fashion, the winner of the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in August, won her fourth stakes of 2003 in Saturday's $250,000 at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Island Fashion ($20.80) ran seven furlongs in 1:21.79, finishing six lengths in front of Randaroo. Buffythecenterfold finished third in the field of 10 3-year-old fillies.
Elloluv, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, finished sixth, a setback to her hopes of winning the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding 3-year-old filly of 2003.
ALBANY, Calif. - An embarrassment of riches.
That could well describe the situation among the fillies in the barn of Jerry Hollendorfer, the leading trainer at Golden Gate Fields.
Hollendorfer has Lacie Girl, who was the best female sprinter in northern California through most of the year. Wildwood Flower and Bending Strings, the two best 2-year-old fillies on the grounds, are also in his stable. They are both being pointed to starts at Santa Anita. He also has stakes-placed Secret Corsage, who was one of the favorites in Saturday's Corte Madera Stakes.
