Laurie Ross
Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds

Race 10 – Gulfstream Park – Gulfstream Park Derby 1 1/16 miles, 3 year-olds – post time: 4:45 p.m. EST

The inaugural running of the Gulfstream Park Derby offers a glimpse at contenders for the upcoming Triple Crown prep races. Undoubtedly, the winner, and likely runners up in this contest will merit consideration later in the year.  

Despite having a strong turf router pedigree, KING KID (Lemon Drop Kid – Very Very, by…

Ed Gray
Gulfstream Park

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Graham Motion tasted victory in the Kentucky Derby this year for the first time with a horse that hadn’t even registered a blip on the national radar at this time last year.

No 2-year-old saddled by Motion will ever again evade detection from those on the lookout for Kentucky Derby prospects. Thus, when Gold Megillah cavorted to a maiden victory by more than 18 lengths over a sloppy Churchill Downs…

David Joseph
Gulfstream Park

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Starlight Racing’s 2-year-old Algorithms ran like a star on the rise Friday winning the third race, an ‘a other than’ allowance test, at Gulfstream Park by one length over Darley Stable’s highly-regarded 4-to-5 favorite Consortium.

The first two finishers, both colts by Bernardini, made their second career start after impressive debut victories in New York earlier this year.

Jockey Javier Castellano sat confidently in a stalking position third on the outside…

Laurie Ross
Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds

Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at a mile-and-a-sixteenth for 2-year-olds

The 30th running of the CashCall Futurity will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17. In those 30 years, 14 horses that have won or placed in this Grade 1 contest have won or placed in one or more of the Triple Crown Races.  This year’s field includes a son of the 2003 Futurity hero Lion Heart and a son of the 2005 third-place finisher Bob…

David Joseph
Gulfstream Park

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Richard Kaster and Frederick Wietling’s 2-year-old Kentucky homebred colt Excaper finished a game second as a 33-to-1 longshot behind Aidan O’Brien-trained Irish invader Wrote in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) on Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs, and appears set to resume his promising career in the $100,000 Dania Beach Stakes at GulfstreamPark on Sun. Dec. 18.

“He’s (Excaper) been training right along at PaysonPark and we’re seriously looking…

(Edited Hawthorne Race Course report)

STICKNEY, Ill. – It figured to be a contested pace in the 33rd running of the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity and it was. Although the opening quarter was a seemingly slow :25.03, heavily favored Twelve Hundred had to work hard to get the lead and that might have cost him the race. He did get to the lead before they covered the first quarter and rider Inez Karlsson was able to slow the fractions down…

Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Aqueduct Racetrack

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Disposablepleasure overcame a calamitous start, an eventful trip and a desperate late surge from Wildcat’s Smile to win Saturday’s 90th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Demoiselle at Aqueduct Racetrack by a nose.

One race later, in the Grade 2, $200,000 Remsen for juveniles, O’Prado Again stayed well behind a moderate pace before launching a wide rally through the stretch that carried him to a three-quarter-length victory over Souper Speedy.

Stumbling…

Dan Silver
NYRA/Aqueduct Racetrack

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On the heels of its Friday announcement that Bernardini’s stud fee would double to $150,000 in 2012, Darley Stable saw yet another extremely impressive debut from the 2006 Eclipse champion as homebred Consortium devoured an Aqueduct Racetrack maiden special weight by 4¾ lengths.

Sent off at odds of 13-1 in race 7, a 6½-furlong affair on the main dirt track, the 2-year-old bay colt broke alertly and settled comfortably in fifth…

Jon Forbes
NYRA/Belmont Park

ELMONT, N.Y. – Flying Zee Stables was well represented in this year’s Bertram F. Bongard on Saturday at Belmont Park, finishing first with Night Maneuver, third with The Prize Fighter, fourth with Western Tryst, and 12th with Goodtime Boy. Their best performance on the card, however, might have come from Agave Kiss, who led all the way to register a 6¼-length debut victory against 12 New York-bred maiden fillies.

Agave Kiss was quickest away from…

Laurie Ross
Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies – Race 6 – post time: 6:10 p.m.

Favorites won the last two versions of the Juvenile Fillies at Churchill and the prices were fairly chalky. In 2000, Caressing surprised as a $96.00 winner when the favorite Raging Fever failed to hit the board.

While a mid-pack runner took the 2000 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fillies, a pace setter and pace presser took the…