HORSE RACING: ROCK HARD TEN IS SOLID IN RETURN.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services It appears Richard Mandella, the trainer who set a Breeders' Cup record with four winners in 2003, will be heading to New York later this month with a four-legged monster. Rock Hard Ten, sidelined for nearly seven months with various ailments, returned Saturday for the first time since his Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during victory March 5 and toyed with his three rivals in the $500,000 Grade II Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap The Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1982 during the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. at the Oak Tree meet in Arcadia. The official victory margin over runner-up Roman Ruler was only a length and the final time of 1:48.68 for the 1 1/8 miles on dirt was nothing special, but jockey Gary Stevens had the huge son of Kris S. under wraps for most of the journey. ``He actually only ran an eighth of a mile,'' said Stevens, who has been aboard for all three of Rock Hard Ten's victories in 2005 and six of his seven career wins. The Goodwood field included only four starters after the late defections of Gotaghostofachance and Preachinatthebar, and Roman Ruler was able to head into the stretch with a slight lead over Rock Hard Ten after dawdling fractions of 24.28, 48.62 and 1:12.12. It was just the type of Breeders' Cup prep the colt's camp was looking for after the long layoff. Now it's on "Now It's On" is a single by the American rock group Grandaddy released in 2003. Track listing 7"
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Rock Hard Ten beat the favored Saint Liam in the Big `Cap, but next time he won't have home-track edge over a horse who is coming off an ultra-impressive victory in the Woodward Stakes at Belmont. ``This was the big obstacle, to get him back, make sure he ran the race that he ran last winter here, and he did that,'' Mandella said. ``I don't know that he's not getting better.'' In other Breeders' Cup prep races Saturday at Santa Anita: --The heavily-favored Megahertz One million cycles per second. See MHz. MegaHertz - (MHz) Millions of cycles per second. The unit of frequency used to measure the clock rate of modern digital logic, including microprocessors. , the darling of local fans, bid farewell to the Southern California circuit with another patented rally from far back to win the $500,000 Grade I Yellow Ribbon Stakes The Yellow Ribbon Stakes is a Grade I race for thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three-years-old and upwards. It is raced during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita Park in late September / early October. at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Megahertz, ridden again by Alex Solis, rallied from last in the field of seven fillies and mares to beat Flip Flop by one length for her ninth victory in 13 tries over the Santa Anita turf. --The Baffert-trained Diamond Omi upset 1-2 favorite Wild Fit by three quarters of a length in the $200,000 Grade II Oak Leaf Stakes The Oak Leaf Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses restricted to two-year-old fillies and thus is a major prep race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The Grade I race is held at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track at Santa Anita Park's Oak Tree . --Borrego turned the Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers into a blowout. Roaring past the field around the far turn, Borrego cruised to an easy victory in Saturday's $1 million Gold Cup, one of five Grade 1 races at Belmont Park with Breeders' Cup implications. Borrego, one of three California horses in the field of eight, now becomes one of the top contenders for the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic. |
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