Moonshine Mullin takes home the Stephen Foster
Moonshine Mullin showed a ton of heart as he held off the challenge of Departing and Will Take Charge late to win the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on Saturday night. Sent off at odds of 10/1, Moonshine Mullin (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) sat second early on as Jaguar Paw carved out pretty sensible fractions of 23.97 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.91 for the opening half mile. Moonshine Mullin made his bid going into the far turn and Departing (BetPTC.com Top Selection) moved with him and those two arrived at the top of the stretch as one, with Departing even putting a head in front as they straightened away. But Calvin Borel and Moonshine Mullin dug in and repelled that challenge and started to edge away. Will Take Charge started to roll from the back but couldn’t get to Moonshine Mullin who held on to win by a length and three quarters. Will Take Charge was second ahead of Departing who finished up in third.
A Little Bit Sassy was first across the wire in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes, but after a steward’s inquiry she was disqualified and placed fourth for interference against Kiss The Moon down the lane. The disqualification put Aurelia’s Belle (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) up into the winning slot ahead of Personal Diary who was second and Kiss Moon (BetPTC.com Top Selection) who was put up to third after having to steady because of A Little Bit Sassy veering in the lane. The Grade 2 Fleur De Lis saw a very impressive performance by 10/1 long shot Molly Morgan (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) as she flew from last early on blow by all her rivals in the lane and draw off to win by four emphatic lengths. Flashy American (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) also closed from off the pace to get second but was no match for the winner. In the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes it was Tapiture (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) who got back to his winning ways as he stalked the leaders with a 3 wide move on the turn and blew by them in the lane, drawing off to win by two easy lengths over Ulanbator who was second.
Fashion Alert wins the Astoria Stakes at first asking
Fashion Alert didn’t give bettors much to go on with her past performances, as she had none before her debut in yesterday’s $100,000 Astoria Stakes. However being trained by Todd Pletcher and showing some fast works gave many bettors reason to play her as she went wire to wire at odds of 9/5 to win. Fashion Alert (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) broke alertly under Johnny Velazquez and settled nicely on the lead just ahead of Lindy (BetPTC.com Longshot). As they arrived at the top of the stretch, Fashion Alert started to pull clear and continued to dominate down the lane, winning off by four and three quarter lengths. Race favorite Liatris (BetPTC.com Top Selection) rallied up into the place spot ahead of Lindy who was third.
Obviously dominates the Shoemaker Mile
Obviously went right to the front and never looked back on Saturday as he drew off to one of his most impressive wins taking home the $400,000 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita. Obviously and Joe Talamo went off and breezed through an opening half mile in 44.50 seconds and started to open up on the final turn. Obviously just kept on running and running fast, sprinting to the wire a length and a half in front and stopping the clock in a fast 1:32.66 for the mile. Summer Front (BetPTC.com Top Selection) got up for second while Tom’s Tribute ran third.
The Grade 1 Vanity Stakes saw a similar finish as the Shoemaker as Iotapa (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) went all the way to win impressively. Iotapa and Joe Talamo went right to the lead and at the quarter pole started to open up at will. Iotapa drew clear to win by ten and one quarter lengths in one of the more dominating performances of the year by a filly or mare. Grace Hall (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) finished up in second with Scherzinger in third.
JK Endofanera upsets the North American Cup
JK Endofanera wasn’t highly regarded by the bettors on Saturday in the $1,000,000 North American Cup at Mohawk Raceway. Sent off at odds of 12/1, JK Endofanera settled back in seventh early on as Lyonssomewhere (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) went out to set the early pace, a briskly fast 25 and 1/5 seconds. As they ran down the backstretch He’s Watching (BetPTC.com Top Selection) and Tim Tetrick made a huge move after the lead and took the field along the far turn. He’s Watching brought the lead into the stretch but the closers were all close in tow, with JK Endofanera coming fastest of all and getting up for the win, stopping the clock in 1:48.4. Tellitlikeitis (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) rallied up for the second spot with He’s Watching holding on for third.