SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Pat Kelly is getting the most he can out of the Saratoga meet from his handicap star Evening Attire.
Evening Attire is scheduled to make his third start of the meet Monday in a $58,000 allowance race. He will face a solid field that includes Gulfstream Park Handicap winner Hero's Tribute and 2002 Pegasus Handicap winner Regal Sanction.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Donald Winfree, returning to Monmouth Park for the first time in 15 years, won the Grade 3, $189,000 with Tenpins on Saturday.
Winfree, who stabled at Monmouth in the mid-1980's, ran Tenpins in the Iselin in part because he thought the horse would like the track.
"I knew this track doesn't favor deep closers," Winfree said. "I knew if this horse got beat, it would be somebody who sneaks by right at the shadow of the wire."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The weather has finally turned beautiful in Saratoga Springs, which means the turf courses have dried out and are firm - perhaps not the optimum condition for two of the three Christophe Clement-trained horses entered in Monday's $100,000-added Glens Falls Handicap.
Clement entered Mariensky, Sixty Seconds, and Midnight Angel in the Grade 3 Glens Falls. The 1 3/8-mile inner turf race drew 10 fillies and mares, plus two also-eligibles and one main-track only. Clement's runners are not coupled in the wagering.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Turf marathons seem to work for Runaway Dancer.
The former maiden claimer was tried over 1 3/8 miles on turf for the first time on July 24 and he scored a two-length win, the most important victory of his 10-race career.
Monday, Runaway Dancer returns in a $63,000 optional claimer over that same distance at Del Mar, and trainer Dan Hendricks is confident the gray gelding can repeat.
"I think getting the distance is the big thing," Hendricks said. "I like where I'm at. He seemed to relish the mile and three-eighths. The timing is perfect."
MIAMI - The complexion of Saturday's $100,000 Aspidistra Handicap at Calder changed dramatically less than two hours before post time when a sudden downpour forced the race to be switched from the turf to a sloppy main track. The change in venue played right into the hands of the versatile Sara's Success, who rallied to a 1 3/4-length victory over Redoubled Miss in a scratch-reduced field of older fillies and mares.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Baba Gonzo went up along the rail to make the lead before going a quarter-mile, set the balance of the pace, and defeated six Ohio-bred 2-year-old rivals in the $40,000 Miss Ohio Stakes. Sheikh and Awe finished second, 5 1/4 lengths behind Baba Gonzo and 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Keepyourwitsaboutu.
Baba Gonzo ($3), bred and owned by Edward Marshall, won her first career race from three career starts and got the six furlongs in 1:12.90 over a fast racing strip. She is trained by Alan Sobol and was ridden by Luis Gonzalez.
Trainer King Leatherbury won his 6,000th career race Saturday at Timonium and joins Dale Baird (8,819 through Friday) and Jack Van Berg (6,334) as the only trainers to have accomplished the feat.
Leatherbury's milestone win came in the seventh race with Cherokee Sunrise ($9.20), who was ridden by Mark Rosenthal.
Leatherbury had failed to win with 14 runners since winning his 5,999th race, at Charles Town Aug. 7. He had gone 0 for 26 at the recently completed Laurel meeting.
Steve Asmussen, the nation's second leading trainer by wins, won five of the six races he had starters in on Friday at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
His winners came in the first with Colonial Billy ($16.60), the second with Borntobelucky ($21.40), the sixth with Slewofhonor ($8.60), the seventh with Treasure Won ($6.60), and the 11th with Far Away Bell ($3.80).
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Forever Grand ($12.40) rallied strongly from last under Patrick Husbands to take the $132,375 Shepperton Stakes by a neck over 13-1 shot Dillinger.
Forever Grand raced about five lengths behind on the backstretch of the 6 1/2-furlong dash, as favorite Wild Whiskey and Krz Ruckus dueled through lively fractions of 21.97 and 44.48 seconds. Forever Grand was angled wide for the drive and began to kick in at the three-sixteenths pole.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Friday's 11-race card at the California State Fair was cancelled when jockeys deemed the wet track unsafe to ride on.
"We respect the jockeys' decision," director of racing Dave Elliott told the Sacramento Bee. "It's not as rare as you might think. We had some rain three years or so ago, too." That rain also forced cancellation of racing.
