In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
The only Triple Crown nominee in a scratched-down field of four, Klaravich Stables' Growth Equity (Nyquist) was second by a length when well-backed on Saratoga debut July 19 and most recently returned to round out the exacta in a local seven-furlong heat that also featured next-out maiden winners Unsearchable (Not This Time) and the highly impressive Ezum (Essential Quality). Pounded at the tills to the tune of a dime on the dollar, the $425,000 Keeneland September purchase was content to track the pace outside of longshot Swiss Army Knife (Practical...
Looking to build on an open-lengths allowance victory first off a December absence back on Feb. 11, Three Chimneys Farm's Igniter (Volatile) remained perfect at three with a popular victory in Saturday's $135,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct. Sent off as the 3-5 chalk, the homebred was the first to break the line, but was overtaken on the front end by chief market rival Easy Decision (Charlatan) through an opening quarter in :22.78. Joined to his outside by 8-1 Time To Roll (Not This Time), leaving him in a somewhat...