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...
Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Weekend Princess (Vekoma), a $235,000 Keeneland November weanling turned $625,000 Keeneland September yearling, argued a good pace inside of firming favorite Confidentiality (Complexity) and found more in the final furlong and a half to graduate by a space en route to being named a 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard. The even-money choice, drawn widest of a field reduced to six by a couple of scratches, pinged the stalls and led them through the opening exchanges, but Florent Geroux was urging Weekend Princess...
5th-SA, $70K, Msw, 3yo, f, 5 1/2f, 6:07 p.m. ET. The 'Three Amigos' of Pegram, Watson and Weitman send out for the first time WEEKEND PRINCESS (Vekoma), who will sport the trio's red and yellow colors. The Bob Baffert trainee was initially a $235,000 Keeneland November buy, then the filly went through the same ring the following September for $625,000. Dam Alemia (Congrats) is a half-sister to GSW Stays in Vegas (City Zip) and SW Miss Technicality (Gio Ponti). Weekend Princess's extended female family includes GISW Persistently (Smoke Glacken) and...