Cactus Ridge validated his two victories against lesser company, drawing off to a 6 1/2-length victory under Eddie Martin Jr. in the $98,750 Ellis Park Juvenile in Henderson, Ky.
Cactus Ridge sped straight to the lead and never looked back. He remains unbeaten in three starts. He paid $5.40 as favorite in a field of nine 2-year-olds.
Proper Prado, a 25-1 shot, rallied for second, while Lightnin N Thunder was another 4 1/4 lengths back in third.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Golden Rhythm rallied strongly under Kirk LeBlanc to capture the $50,000 Sangue Handicap at Louisiana Downs. Due to Win Again finished a neck back in second, followed by Milligram.
LeBlanc kept Golden Rhythm ($8) well off the early fractions set by Sheza Nasty Lady before ranging up three wide to challenge in the second turn of the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares. Due to Win Again also lodged a bid with a quarter-mile remaining and proved stubborn in the long stretch battle. The final time was 1:41.89 on firm going.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Go Ask Daisy ($24) won her stakes debut, wearing down the pacesetting odds-on favorite, Smoke Break, to win the $52,100 Mid-Peninsula Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies at the Bay Meadows Fair.
Go Ask Daisy stayed along the rail as Flag Burner moved up to try to challenge Smoke Break in the 5 1/2-furlong race. Go Ask Daisy rallied along the rail in deep stretch as Smoke Break drifted out, and won the race by a half-length in 1:03.74, with Smoke Break holding second by a neck.
Okie Style, pressed early by Rebelcat through a half-mile in 46.27 seconds, won that speed duel and never looked back, taking the $65,208 Iowa Stallion Futurity by a half-length over the favorite, Plum Sober. It was 9 3/4 lengths back to T C Rebel Rouser in third in the field of 11 2-year-olds.
Okie Style, ridden by R.D. Williams for trainer Kelly Von Hemel, ran the six furlongs in 1:11.48 and paid $9.60.
Never more than two lengths off the lead, Bruanna got out in front at the top of the stretch and held on to win the $58,000 Honky Star Stakes at Delaware Park by three-quarters of a length. Holiday Runner rallied for second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Outstanding Info, while the 8-5 favorite, Margarita's Garden, finished fifth in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies
Trained by Michael Gorham, Bruanna ($9) covered the six furlongs in 1:11.26 over a wet-fast track on a showery afternoon.
Highway Prospector, kept off the pace for the first half-mile of the seven-furlong Donald LeVine Memorial Stakes, took the lead in midstretch and won by 1 3/4 lengths. Parade of Music was second, a neck in front of Heroofthegame.
Highway Prospector, trained by Mark Shuman for Michael Gill, was timed in 1:22.93 on a fast track and returned $4.80 as the favorite in the field of 10 3-year-olds and older.
CHICAGO - Perfect Drift's excursion into grass racing is over, at least for now. His eighth-place finish Saturday in the Arlington Million will send Perfect Drift back to dirt racing, and he is likely to make his next start Sept. 28 in the Hawthorne Gold Cup on the opening day of Hawthorne's fall-winter meet.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Monmouth's Wednesday feature race brings together a field of eight horses that fall into three camps: former claimers showing dramatic improvement for new owners, successful New Jersey-breds stepping out into open company, and 3-year-olds with juvenile stakes experience who have not blossomed this season.
The stakes colts, Boston Bull and Wacky for Love, drew the two inside posts in the $39,000 allowance race at six furlongs.
Boston Bull won the Grade 3 Cowdin Stakes at Belmont Park last October and ran third in the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The daily racing promotion for the California State Fair is called "Let It Roll."
And director of racing David Elliott is incorporating that philosophy into the 12 days of racing that begin Wednesday.
The State Fair is providing a free shuttle service for trainers at Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows who enter horses. The shuttle will be available every day from Golden Gate Fields and the first eight days of the meeting from Bay Meadows, before the fall Bay Meadows meet begins on Aug. 29.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sand Springs led every step of the way to win Sunday's $150,000 Lake Placid Handicap at Saratoga.
Sand Springs, the 6-5 favorite who was ridden by Mark Guidry, was a three-quarter-length winner over Indy Five Hundred. It was a nose back to Film Maker, the second choice, in third in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.