Horse Racing News and Results: Hollywood Park, Woodbine Weekend Recap
by Patricia Woo | Dec 7 2009
Four exciting stakes races were run at Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, Canada, and Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., this weekend. The Display Stakes and the Bayakoa Handicap were run on Saturday and the Valedictory Stakes and the Vernon O. Underwood Stakes took place on Sunday; get up to speed with Bodog Racebook's weekend recap.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, Bear's Hard Ten turned in a stellar performance to snag the $150,000 Display Stakes for juveniles at Woodbine Race Course on Saturday, Dec. 5. Making his stakes debut, this son of Rock Hard Ten had Eurico Da Silva in the irons for his first try around two turns and did not disappoint trainer Reade Baker. He raced just off the pace behind Send Me In until the turn where they were joined by Just Call Me Roger. Out of the turn, it was Bear's Hard Ten splitting his rivals and taking off. Despite rallies by Giant's Tomb and Redverse, who claimed second and third place, respectively, Bear's Hard Ten pulled away for the victory, stopping the clock at 1:44.39 for the 1 1/16-mile race.
Also on Dec. 5, over at Hollywood Park, John Shirreffs still had the winning horse in the 1 1/16-mile $150,000 Bayakoa Handicap, despite leaving his
Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner Life is Sweet in the barn. Brazilian-bred Zardana, ridden by Victor Espinoza, chased pacesetter and 2008 Bayakoa Handicap winner Briecat into the stretch and had two lengths to make up. But she was able to find a higher gear and passed the fading Briecat on her way to a strong win in 1:24.42. Silver Swallow came up with a big finish for second place and Cat by the Tale finished third. Floating Heart, Briecat and mild favorite Teamgeist (who had a terrible break) rounded out the order of finish.
On Sunday, Dec. 6, at Woodbine Race Course, 9-year-old race favorite Cloudy's Knight overcame losing the lead on the far turn to take the 1 ¾-mile $150,000 Valedictory Stakes. Coming off a narrow loss to Man of Iron in the
2009 Breeders' Cup Marathon in an otherwise perfect 2009 campaign, Cloudy's Knight successfully made the transition from racing on Pro-Ride at Santa Anita Park to the deeper Polytrack at Woodbine, fighting back to regain the lead from Eagle Poise (ridden by Patrick Husbands) in the final stages of the race. With Rosemary Homeister aboard, Cloudy's Knight, who is trained by Jonathan Sheppard, earned $85,000 for the win which boosted his race record to 4-3-1-0. Rounding out the top four finishers were Pool Play and Torquay.
Despite a strong showing by Delta Storm, who came in fourth in the
Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, it was Kinsale King, at odds of 7-1, who prevailed in the $100,000 Gr. 3 Vernon O. Underwood for 3-year-olds and up at Hollywood Park on Dec. 6. The two raced neck and neck down the stretch, with Kinsale King (with Martin Garcia aboard) having that final burst of speed necessary to hang on for the win. The Yankee Victor gelding's winning time for the 6-furlong race was 1:09.67. Mr. Cacht and Felipe Valdez rounded out the top four, with race favorite and last year's runner up Noble Court finishing a disappointing fifth.
Get in on all the
horse racing action! Bet on horse racing at the Bodog Racebook!
