Yesterday and today: April 11 racing highlights

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: OOPS

Midway on the turn in yesterday’s fourth race at Laurel Park, Holiday Mousse appeared to be done.

Running in third, the three-year-old trained by Cal Lynch was already under a ride from jockey Feargal Lynch, Cal’s brother.  Meanwhile, up ahead, Twisted Earl was moving comfortably on the lead, a length or two ahead of his nearest pursuer, Hey Willie, and seemingly with plenty in the tank.

In the lane, Lynch was able to steer Holiday Mousse to the outside and put him in a drive, and the Harlan’s Holiday gelding suddenly found another gear.  As the field approached the first finish line — the second line was in use in this one-turn mile event — Holiday Mousse seemed to be making a winning move outside of Twisted Earl.

But Feargal Lynch, apparently thinking the race ended at the first finish line rather than the second, stood up as if to begin the gallop-out.  For four jumps Lynch stood up, robbing his horse of its momentum.  Realizing his mistake, Lynch got down and rode for the final yards, but, as the chart put it, “it was simply too late.”

Holiday Mousse ended up second, beaten a half-length for all the money.

Holiday Mousse was claimed out of the race for $15,000 by trainer Donald Barr.

Feargal Lynch also finished second, beaten a nose, in the next race.

ALSO…

• You can’t really say trainer Ramon Preciado is living right, since he’s staring down the barrel of a six-month suspension for a half-dozen clenbuterol positives.  But that hasn’t altered his winning ways.  Sunday at Parx Racing, three more Preciado-trained runners earned victories, giving him 18 from 44 starters in Bensalem (41 percent!).  His Sunday victors were El Posole (1-2) in a claiming event, Mr. Winter (2.10-1) in a starter allowance, and Mr. Masterpiece (2-1) in another claimer.
• The bettors at Parx had a pretty good idea that Nellie Fox would break his maiden yesterday.  The Grazen colt had finished second in four of his last five tries, and punters made him 1-20 in $10,000 maiden claiming company on Sunday.  Under Anthony Salgado, the Marco Zulueta trainee cruised to a 3 1/2 length win.
• Perfect Title impressed in winning a third-level allowance on the turf yesterday at Laurel.  The Chuck Lawrence trainee, last early, closed sharply under Victor Carrasco to win by 1 3/4 lengths going away in a solid 1:41.88 for 1 1/16 miles.  The six-year-old son of Perfect Soul, second in last year’s Laurel Turf Cup and third in the G3 River City Handicap, now has five wins from 25 starts and earnings of nearly $270,000.