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Upsets were the order of the day in the weekend's two biggest races for older horses.
With Heatseeker and Lava Man taking a pass, Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup lacked some of its potential star power. That didn't detract from the upset victory posted by Mast Track.
Read More...Distaff
Saturday's $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at
Belmont Park was an odd affair. First, only four faced the starter.
Then, three of the four, including odds-on favorite and Kentucky Oaks
winner Proud Spell, stumbled badly out of the gate, causing traffic
problems despite the compact field. Then, when Proud Spell tried to make
a move, she again had traffic issues. Finally, after finishing second
behind Music Note, Proud Spell was disqualified to third for veering out
sharply in the stretch. Music Note completed the 9 furlongs in 1:49.75
on a fast track under Javier Castellano. I had a beautiful trip, even
though she stumbled at the start,
Castellano said. I tried to
position myself. I did not want to be on the lead
She galloped out
good and I don't think she will have a problem going farther.
Music
Note is owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by Saeed bin Surror. Proud
Spell's owner, Larry Jones, was philosophical. From the beginning, it
didn't look like it was going to be our day,
he said. When we
needed somewhere to go, we had nowhere to go. And when it was time to
go, we weren't going.
Turf
-- Royal Oath caught pace-setting longshot Ice Bear at the top of the
stretch in Saturday's $300,000 (Canadian) King Edward Breeders' Cup
Handicap at Woodbine, the pair bumped repeatedly through the stretch run
and Royal Oath finally prevailed by 1/2 length. Seaside Retreat ran late
to finish third, another 1/2 length back. Royal Oath, a 5-year-old,
Kentucky-bred son of Kingmambo, finished the 9 furlongs on yielding turf
in 1:49.87. Patrick Husbands rode for trainer Mark Casse. In his last
race and North American debut, Royal Oath finished a disappointing fifth
in the Connaught Cup. Last time, he had a nice trip but he didn't
fire down the lane,
Husbands said. In his last work, he was a
different horse. I don't think it was the track last time. He just
wasn't happy. Right now, he's a good horse.
Before shipping over,
Royal Oath raced in Dubai and England, winning the Royal Hunt Cup last
June at Ascot.
Distaff Turf
-- Black Mamba rallied from far back to win Sunday's $150,000 Beverly
Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park by 1 1/4 lengths over Solva, with Green
Lyons third. Black Mamba, a 5-year-old, New Zealand-bred daughter of
Black Minnaloushe, ran the 10 furlongs on firm turf in 2:01.25. Garrett
Gomez rode for trainer John Sadler, who dominated the weekend's stakes
in Southern California. We wanted to have a good clean trip,
Sadler said. She had a lot of trouble in the last one, so we were
more concerned that she got a smooth trip today. I told Garrett that
she's very steady and not hard to ride.
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