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...
Civil Liberty (Independence Hall), third-place finisher in last summer's GI Del Mar Futurity and a maiden of four career starts, will look to graduate in the GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct Apr. 4. The 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial offers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. "That's definitely our goal," trainer Doug O'Neill said of the Wood Memorial. "He acts like the distance won't be a problem for him at all. It wasn't a problem for his pops--his dad could run the distance. We're excited about him." Carrying the colors of...