Horse Racing News

Awesome Maria was the only graded stakes winner going into the Shuvee Handicap and the only graded stakes winner coming out - but not without some anxious moments.

It's midday at Pimlico Race Course, and in a court plunked smack-dab amid the drunken chaos of the Preakness infield, the National Volleyball League is wrapping up its' first ever official event.

Ventana, the favorite in a field of nine older horses, returned $5.20 after finishing six furlongs in 1:09.88 over a fast track.

Apart ($4.40), the favorite, prevailed under jockey Garrett Gomez after a prolonged stretch battle, covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast, but dull, main track in 1:43.70. Icabad Crane was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third.

For Super Espresso, a $1.1 million auction purchase by owner Bobby Flay, it was her first graded stakes win.

No Explaining, a well-placed third in the early running, struck the front in upper stretch and went on to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Gallorette Handicap by about a length on Saturday at Pimlico.

Hyperbole surrounds the supposed difficulty Derby contenders face when wheeling back in the Preakness.

Royal Delta got a surprisingly lively pace to rally into and proved best in Friday's Grade 2, $250,000 Black Eyed Susan Stakes.

The Factor, impressive winner of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn in March, is sidelined with a hairline fracture of a hind ankle, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Friday.

Dianne Carpenter, the only woman to saddle two starters in the Kentucky Derby, has died. She was 68.