Corinthian, after jumping in the air at the start, never reached contention, leaving the Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. III) for second choice Magna Graduate under a picture perfect ride from John Velazquez for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Jockey John Velazquez and trainer Todd Pletcher teamed for back-to-back stakes victories at Tampa Bay Downs Saturday when Green Hills Farm's favored Cassydora made every pole a winning one in the $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes (gr. IIIT) for fillies and mares on the turf.
Making her first start since a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), Dogwood Stable's Cotton Blossom was too much to handle in the $200,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs Saturday.
Favored Circular Quay, able to avoid the traffic issues he encountered in the Risen Star (gr. III) one month ago, circled the field five wide coming off the far turn under John Velazquez and rallied impressively to win the $594,000 Louisiana Derby (gr. II) at Fair Grounds Saturday.
The multiple graded stakes winner Master Command drew away like a a 3-10 shot should to record an easy win in the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) at Fair Grounds Saturday.
Magna Graduate, trained by two-time Eclipse trainer Todd Pletcher and ridden by two-time Eclipse jockey John Velazquez, challenged the pacesetting Jonesboro at the head of the stretch, and drew off in the final furlong for a 1 3/4- length victory in the $150,000 Razorback Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park.
Michael and Doreen Tabor's Circular Quay has been installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in a field of eight 3-year-olds for the 94th running of the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (gr. II) at Fair Grounds Race Course March 10.
Arindel Farm's Wait a While, last year's Eclipse Award winner as the nation's top 3-year-old filly, started her 2007 season in fine style, going virtually gate to wire to win the $100,000 Honey Fox Handicap (gr. IIIT) as the prohibitive favorite on the Gulfstream Park turf Sunday.
Scat Daddy, somewhat overlooked in trainer Todd Pletcher's rich stable for this year's Triple Crown trail, stormed from far back to tag the tough-luck loser Stormello by a nose in the final stride of Saturday's $350,000 Fountain of Youth (gr. II) for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.
Favored Half Ours remained unbeaten in five starts when he staved off the hard-charging Park Avenue Ball in the closing strides to take the $225,000 Richter Scale Breeders' Cup Sprint Championship Handicap (gr. II) by a half-length at Gulfstream Park Saturday.
Audacious Chloe handed Dreaming of Anna her first defeat on the turf Sunday in the $76,500 Gaily Gaily Stakes, outfighting the champion 2-year-old filly of 2006 over the final furlong by a half-length at Gulfstream Park.
WinStar Farm's Any Given Saturday went off at odds of 1-5 in his 3-year-old debut Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. He gave his supporters little reason for concern with a 2 3/4-length triumph in the $146,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes.
Heiligbrodt Racing Stable's favored Appealing Zophie, a grade I winner, turned away an erratic Total in the stretch to run away with Saturday's $200,000 Silverbulletday Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-old fillies at Fair Grounds.
Odds-on choice Master Command left the tiring Purim approaching the eighth pole and cruised to victory in the $194,000 Mineshaft Handicap, the first of four successive grade III races on the Fair Grounds program Saturday.
A change in his usual tactics contributed to a career-best effort for Anstu Stable's Ramazutti, a handy winner of Sunday's $150,000 Mac Diarmida Handicap (gr. IIT) at 1 3/8 miles on the Gulfstream Park lawn.
N.T.S. Stable's 3-year-old filly Annabill extended her win streak to three races after her victory in the $100,000 Chaposa Springs Handicap at Calder on Saturday.
Melnyk Racing Stables' speedy Bishop Court Hill took control of the $110,600 Gravesend Handicap (gr. III) coming away from the gate and rolled to a measured one-length victory under John Velazquez on the Aqueduct inner track Sunday.
The Argentine-bred Safari Queen wasn't hindered in the least when Saturday's $200,000 La Prevoyante Handicap (gr. III) was switched from the turf to a sloppy Calder main track, cruising to a front-running victory for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Half Ours eked out a victory in an allowance/optional claiming race at Aqueduct Thursday in his first start since being sold for $6.1 million at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
Magna Graduate, sidelined for most of the year, took command of Saturday's $107,700 Queen's County Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct soon after the start en route to his first victory of 2006.
The Jockeys' Guild has outlined a five-point plan for 2007 that primarily focuses on financial matters, but it also has made a strong call for solidarity among the membership and heightened political action in individual states and Washington, D.C.
English invader Bayeux, ignored at odds of 23-1 in his American debut, unleashed a strong stretch drive to score an upset victory over Lord Admiral in the $168,900 River City Handicap (gr. IIIT) on turf Friday at Churchill Downs.
High winds again forced the cancellation of racing at Aqueduct on Sunday afternoon after the first race. The horses were in the paddock for the second race when the announcement was made.
Twilight Meteor collared favored Marcavelly with an eighth of a mile remaining and gradually pulled away to a 2 ΒΌ-length victory in the $125,000 Woodford Reserve Bourbon County Stakes Friday at Keeneland.
Trainer Todd Pletcher tied the single-season mark for graded stakes victories Wednesday when Roman Dynasty won the $105,300 Discovery Handicap (gr. III) for 3-year-olds on the opening day of the Aqueduct fall meet.
Scat Daddy gave trainer Todd Pletcher his record 93rd stakes victory in 2006 with a smart win over favored Nobiz Like Shobiz in the 135th running of the $400,000 Champagne (gr. I) for 2-year-olds at Belmont Park Saturday.
English Channel, who ran fifth in last year's John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), has his final prep for this year's Breeders' Cup Saturday in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (gr. IT) at Belmont Park.
Team Valor Stable's King of the Roxy, getting better with experience, notched his first graded stakes victory on Saturday when he held C P West safe for a three-quarter-length victory in the 117th running of Belmont Park's $250,000 Futurity (gr. II) for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs.
Pool Land tracked favored Take D' Tour through wickedly fast early fractions, then pulled away in the stretch to win the $300,000 Ruffian (gr. I) for fillies and mares at Belmont Park Sunday.
Making his second start for trainer Martin Wolfson, Silverleaf Farm's Pomeroy, ridden confidently by John Velazquez, pulled away from War Front in the final furlong to win the $250,000 Forego Handicap (gr. I) in an upset at Saratoga Race Course Saturday.
Prohibitive favorite Henny Hughes took command of Saturday's King Bishop (gr. I) on the bend and turned the seven-furlong test for 3-year-olds into a romp on an overcast day at Saratoga Race Course.
Even-money favorite Bluegrass Cat, winless since taking the Sam F. Davis in February, demolished the field in Sunday's $1,030,000 Haskell Invitational with devastating late burst.
The multiple graded stakes winner Ready's Gal, forwardly placed in Sunday's $150,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker (gr. IIIT), took the lead at the head of the stretch and held off the late challenge of Prop Me Up to win by a half-length on the Monmouth Park grass.
The Jockeys' Guild board met in a conference call with California sports agent Dwight Manley on Friday evening to accept his employment agreement to take over the top management post of the riders' organization.
Things haven't changed much at Saratoga Race Course, where the 138th season opened Wednesday. Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez were back in the winner's circle after Cotton Blossom won the $111,300 Schuylerville (gr. III) for 2-year-old fillies before a crowd of 27,346.
Things haven't changed much at Saratoga Race Course, where the 138th season opened Wednesday. Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez were back in the winner's circle after Cotton Blossom won the $111,300 Schuylerville (gr. III) for 2-year-old fillies before a crowd of 27,346.
After being a Thoroughbred trainer for 10 years, Todd Pletcher should be used to the racing spotlight. This is especially true at Saratoga Race Course, where he has been the leading trainer for the past four years and also holds the single-season win record.
Glencrest Farm's 3-10 favorite Honey Ryder earned her third consecutive victory by a hard-fought head in the $295,100 Robert G. Dick Memorial Breeders' Cup on the Delaware Park turf Saturday.
Adieu returned to the winner's circle for the first time since last fall's Frizette (gr. I) when she collared Amandatude inside the sixteenth pole and cruised to victory in the $500,000 Delaware Oaks (gr. II) for 3-year-old fillies at Delaware Park.
English Channel came off the rail to grab the lead in mid-stretch, then stubbornly refused to give in to the determined Cacique in winning the $750,000 United Nations (gr. IT) on the sparkling new Monmouth Park turf course Saturday.
Jockeys' Guild chairman John Velazquez and other board members from the organization met Monday to discuss the June 26 selection of California sports agent Dwight Manley as the Guild's national manager. Velazquez, speaking about Guild issues for the first time since mid-June, said Tuesday the organization's main objective remains to work with horsemen in a positive manner.
Jockeys must "leverage their share of power" in the horse racing industry and have the right to bargain collectively, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said June 26 as Jockeys' Guild leadership moved toward a decision on the individual or company that will serve as its national manager.
Melnyk Racing Stables' Flower Alley showed his class in the stretch, powering his way through a cloudburst to a 3 1/4-length victory in Saturday's $150,000 Salvator Mile Stakes (gr. III) at sloppy Monmouth Park.
After missing his mount aboard Bluegrass Cat in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) with a broken shoulder blade, John Velazquez is looking forward to riding the colt in the $1 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I) Saturday.
Jockey John Velazquez said he feels blessed to be back in the saddle so soon after suffering serious injuries during a race at Keeneland in April. He also is looking forward forward to piloting Bluegrass Cat, who was made the 3-1 morning-line favorite, in Saturday's Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
Many of the jockeys who were instrumental in overthrowing the controversial management team at the Jockeys' Guild last fall and moving the organization in a new direction were re-elected to the organization's senate after the ballots were counted June 5.
The NTRA Charities Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund announced it has disbursed $56,121 to more than 50 former riders who are permanently disabled as a result of injuries sustained while riding at North American racetracks.
Jockey John Velazquez returned a winner in his first start since being sidelined in an April 20 racing accident at Keeneland when he piloted Mr Sam I Am to a 2 3/4-length win for trainer Todd Pletcher in Belmont Park's fourth race on Friday.
Jockey John Velazquez, originally planning a return to racing aboard the Todd Pletcher-trained Scat Daddy at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, will make his comeback Friday at Belmont Park instead. According to Velazquez's agent, Angel Cordero, the jockey's original mount scratched at Monmouth and will run Saturday at Belmont.
Two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey John Velazquez, who is scheduled to ride in his first race Friday since recovering from injuries suffered at Keeneland in April, says he will be at full strength by June 10 when he rides WinStar Farm's Bluegrass Cat in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
