Sekie and Tsunebumi homebred Yoshihara's 2022 Fantasy (G3) winner Yuugiri has returned to Oaklawn this season even stronger, winning her second straight impressively in Saturday's $150,000 Carousel Stakes for older female sprinters.
Yuugiri, the 3-2 favorite, and recent American Beauty Stakes winner Pretty Birdie both broke sharply and quickly distanced themselves from the field through early fractions of :21.41 and :44.97 for the first half mile with Pretty Birdie holding the slight advantage. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. moved Yuugiri out to the three path entered the stretch and she kicked clear late to draw off to win by 3½ lengths over her rival.
Hazy Command closed from last to be third. The winning time was 1:10.17 over a sloppy (sealed) track.
“The good ones, they can do anything,” winning trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “Obviously, last time we saw she liked the mud. Today, was a little bit sloppier, I think. They went a (half-mile) in :44 and (jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.) decided to take her back a little bit. He gave her a breather and she re-engaged. We know she knows how to dig in. She won at a mile and a sixteenth. Everything went as planned.”
Yuugiri, a 4-year-old Shackleford filly out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Yuzuru, won for the fourth time from eight career starts and has earned $714,285. She returned $5 for the win.
“There was some speed in the race so I was wanted to make sure she didn't go too fast too early,” Santana said. “Around the turn I took her off the rail and went to (Pretty Birdie's) outside and she tried really hard the whole way.”
Jockey David Cabrera, aboard Pretty Birdie, said his filly “ran really hard and got a little tired late.”
Brisset said the next objective for Yuugiri is the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland April 8.
The post ‘The Good Ones, They Can Do Anything’: Yuugiri Kicks Clear In The Slop For Comfortable Carousel Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
