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  • With Anticipation S. (DEL) – School House, trainer Kelly Deiter, owners Patricia Salamone, Gordon Policastro, and George Reeb
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In our LookBack, we follow up on some of last week’s top stories, plus some other notes of interest…

  • It was a quiet weekend of racing in the mid-Atlantic — the only stake run this week, in fact, was Delaware’s With Anticipation, and that took place on Thursday.
  • That it was relatively quiet here doesn’t mean, however, that horses based or bred in the mid-Atlantic didn’t make a national impact.  In Saturday’s G1 Beldame at Belmont Park, three year-old Princess of Sylmar, a Pennsylvania-bred filly already in possession of three Grade 1 wins, most recently the Alabama (here), bagged her biggest game yet.  With Javier Castellano in the irons, she tracked Royal Delta, the champion handicap mare, before taking command in the lane to earn a two-length win.  Royal Delta, who’d been dominant in her recent outings and was sent off here at odds of 3-10, finished second, more than six lengths clear of show horse Centring.  It’s unclear whether Princess of Sylmar, who was bred by Ed Stanco and is owned by his King of Prussia Stable, will head to the Breeders’ Cup; she is not nominated to that event and would have to be supplemented.  With a record of 7-6-1-0 for the year and four Grade 1 triumphs, she has made a compelling case that she is the best filly in training.
  • Another Pennsylvania-bred filly made a big statement in the big city this weekend, as well.  With local rider Garry Cruise up, Miss Behaviour, a two year-old daughter of Jump Start out of Successful Romance, by Successful Appeal, made a bold move to a three length lead in the lane of the G2 Matron, then had enough left in the tank to hold off favored Sweet Whiskey.  Miss Behaviour paid $8 as the 3-1 third choice in the group and is now three-for-three.  She was bred and is owned by Cal MacWilliam and Neil Teitelbaum and is trained at Bowie Training Center by Phil Schoenthal.  Look for more on Miss Behaviour later this week on The Racing Biz.
  • Late last week, the United States Trotting Association (USTA) left the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, the umbrella group that’s been pushing for uniform medication regulations in the East and around the nation (here).  The USTA expressed concern the model rules are overly focused on Thoroughbreds and do not account for different characteristics and needs of standardbred horses; in particular, it cited rules restricting the use of the bronchodilator clenbuterol and corticosteroids.  The rules are in place for both breeds in Maryland and Virginia, but in states like Pennsylvania and Delaware, which have different racing commissions for the different breeds, it is uncertain whether the rules will be adopted for standardbreds or only for Thoroughbreds.
  • In its meeting last week, the Virginia Racing Commission took a couple of important steps (here).  While the one generating the greatest buzz is its decision to adopt the uniform medication rules as Maryland and other states had previously done, the other decision may also prove consequential.  The VRC agreed to allow expanded wagering at the International Gold Cup scheduled for October 21.  That event draws the largest crowd of any equestrian event in Virginia, and after a successful May experiment with wagering, its organizers are looking to expand that footprint.  While it’s early, the success of failure of this experiment could have a significant impact on racing in the Old Dominion.
  • Maryland-bred star Richard’s Kid retired last week (here).  The son of Lemon Drop Kid out of Tough Broad, by Broad Brush, earned nearly $2.5 million and won three Grade 1 events among his 12 victories.
  • Our big stories from the last week:

(Featured image by Laurie Asseo.)