Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $6,000 Saturday Sponsored by:
Saturday s Cross Country Pick 5 paid $6,061.25.
Saturday s Cross Country Pick 5, featuring action from Saratoga, Woodbine, and Monmouth Park, paid $6,061.25 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The total pool was $106,967.
Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, commenced the sequence with graded stakes action, as Jolie Olimpica won the $175,000 Grade 2 Nassau for older fillies and mares going one mile on the turf in Race 6. Trained by Josie Carroll and ridden by Luis Contreras, the Brazilian-bred Jolie Olimpica s three-quarters of a length victory in a final time of 1:34.83 paid $5.30 on $2 win wager.
The first of three races at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., came in the second leg, as Luis Saez piloted 10-1 Midnight Worker to a victory by a head over Bourbon Heist in a six-furlong maiden sprint over the main track in Race 6. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Midnight Worke
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Fox Hill Farms Jolie Olimpica and jockey Mike Smith winning the Monrovia Stakes on Santa Anita s turf course
In what appears to be a completely wide-open affair at six furlongs on turf, classy Bob and Jackie looks to rate a big chance cutting back in distance for Richard Baltas as he faces sharp recent winner Gregorian Chant, defending champ Cistron and Brazilian-bred Jolie Olimpica, who will be facing males for the first time in North America in Saturday s Grade 3, $100,000 San Simeon Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.
Second, beaten 3 ¾ lengths as the 2-1 favorite by rising star Hit the Road (who took this past Saturday s Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile) in the G3 Thunder Road Stakes at one mile on turf Feb. 6, Bob and Jackie will be sprinting for the first time since his debut at age two on Oct. 20, 2018, when he was a close second going 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita s hillside turf course.
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Ride a Comet winning the Del Mar Derby in 2018
There are only three American graded stakes races this weekend, the Tropical Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and the La Canada and Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. All are Grade 3 events run on Saturday.
Here is a brief look at all three races. All times are Eastern.
Saturday, Jan. 9
4:49 p.m. – $100,000 Tropical Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park
The Tropical Turf, for 4-year-olds and upward going one mile on turf, features the return of Analyze It, coming off a career worst performance in the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 3. Off for nearly two years from November 2018 until September 2020, the 6-year-old Point of Entry horse trained by Chad Brown finished eighth as the favorite under Tyler Gaffalione. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount on Saturday. Prior to that effort, he won his comeback race, the G3 Red Bank Stakes at Monmouth Park. Three years ago, An
Handicapping: Three Grade 3 Turf Races in Spotlight bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jolie Olimpica, Oleksandra Prepare For Rematch In Las Cienegas Sponsored by:
Oleksandra winning the Grade 1 Jaipur
Separated by a half length when they last met in May, Brazilian-bred Jolie Olimpica and Australian-bred Oleksandra head a field of seven older fillies and mares going six furlongs on turf in Saturday s Grade 3, $100,000 Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita.
Originally run at about 6 ½ furlongs down the track s Camino Real Hillside Turf Course, the 47th edition of the Las Cienegas will be contested for the first time ever out of Santa Anita s all-new turf chute.
Idle since running a big second in the G1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland going a mile and one sixteenth on turf July 11, the Richard Mandella-trained Jolie Olimpica took last year s Las Cienegas at 5 ½ furlongs on turf in her U.S. debut four starts back on Jan. 11, 2020 and is a two-time graded stakes winner over the Santa Anita lawn.