The competitive seven furlong Grade 1 Carter Handicap took place Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York.
The Grade 2 Providencia Stakes was contested at Santa Anita Park on Saturday for three year old fillies willing to go 1 1/8 miles on turf.
The $750,000 Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby was contested in Arcadia, California Saturday - the West Coast qualifying race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
At Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, Todd Pletcher's Verrazano, the 4-5 favorite kept his unbeaten streak alive with his most impressive score to date - a three quarters of a length win in the $1 million Grade 1 Wood Memorial.
Three year old Kentucky Derby hopefuls were featured in the $1 million Grade 1 Florida Derby this past Saturday - just one of two Derby qualification races on North American soil this weekend.
There were two huge Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying races this past weekend in North America. The $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Race Course handed out 100-40-20-10 points for its first through fourth place finishers this weekend to go along with the very nice purse.
The $300,000 Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks on Saturday featured one of the biggest blow-outs in Thoroughbred racing in quite some time.
The second of two Kentucky Derby Championship Series races this weekend took place Sunday - New Mexico's richest race for thoroughbreds the $800,000 Grade 3 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park featured a field of nine.
In the $150,000 Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes for older fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Sunday, 2-1 second choice Tiz Flirtatious earned her first ever graded stakes and second straight win overall with a one length victory over favorite and winner of the American Oaks and Del Mar Oaks Lady of Shamrock.
Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York hosted the $150,000 Grade 3 Excelsior Stakes on Saturday. Last Gunfighter won his fifth straight race at 3-1 odds after a troubled start by two lengths over Chad Brown trained 2-1 favorite Mordi's Miracle and Isn't Her Perfect who finished 7 1/2 lengths back in third.
