Horse Racing News

A race lacking starpower nevertheless delivered excitement at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 25, as longshot Golden Ticket and 2-1 favorite Alpha made history with the first dead heat in the modern history of the 143-year-old Travers Stakes.

Contested overcame a flat-footed start and closed from off the pace to win the $500,000 Test Stakes.

Martin S. Schwartz's Zagora bounced right back to her very best in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Ballston Spa Stakes.

Turbulent Descent made her first start for her new connections a winning one Aug. 24, taking the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course by 1 1/4 lengths and punching her ticket to the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

An automatic berth in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf will be on the line when nine well-matched horses line up for the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap Aug. 25.

Multiple Grade 1 winner and 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Game on Dude drew post position 9 Wednesday night and was installed the 5-2 morning line favorite to win the 22nd edition of the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic this Sunday at Del Mar.

Grade 1 winner Summer Soiree, last seen finishing second in the Matriarch Stakes last November, makes her 2012 debut in the $250,000 Ballston Spa Stakes Presented by Jose Cuervo on the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 25.

Royal Delta bolstered her Eclipse Award credentials with a win in the Alabama Stakes before going on to sew up honors as the outstanding 3-year-old filly of 2011 with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Churchill Downs.

Contested, a Grade 1 winner who was last in her most recent start, will attempt to regain winning form and earn her most lucrative victory to date when competing in the 87th renewal of the $500,000 Test Stakes Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course.

Trinniberg and Currency Swap, two of the nation's best 3-year-old sprinters, square off once again in the $500,000 Foxwood King's Bishop Stakes Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course.