Recently troubled but worry-free Saturday, Harris Farms' homebred Closing Remarks got a perfect trip in the $200,000 Royal Heroine Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita and responded with an authoritative 1½-length score under Joe Bravo.
Trained by Carla Gaines, Closing Remarks, the lone California-bred in the field, got one mile on turf in 1:34.82.
A much-troubled third at the same trip in the Buena Vista Stakes (G2) on March 4 at the Arcadia, Calif. track, Closing Remarks was a settled fourth early as recent allowance winner Honey Jar sped to the lead which she held to the quarter pole. On the move at that point and just two lengths off the lead, Closing Remarks wheeled four-deep into the lane and won as much best.
“She just leaves the gate so settled and relaxed,” said Bravo, who was aboard for the eighth consecutive time today. “Carla has done a great job bringing her around in each one of these races. She probably should have won her last one but we had a troubled trip in that race and today with a clean trip, she was tons (the best).
“She dropped down (to her left lead) turning for home and she exploded. There's nothing better than acceleration like that. A horse that loves to run, that's her.”
Placed in four out of her last five starts, all graded stakes, Closing Remarks was the 6-5 favorite in a field of six older fillies and mares today and paid $4.40 for the win.
A 5-year-old mare by Vronsky out of the Unusual Heat mare Orange Cove, Closing Remarks, a Cal-bred stakes winner at age three, got her first graded victory in the Royal Heroine in her 12th try and improved her overall race record to 4-5-4 from 18 starts. With the winner's share of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $554,820.
“It's really great because we bred her, her dam and her granddam,” said John Harris, a major player in California racing for more than 50 years. “I don't know if we're lucky or smart, but we are happy with the way it's going. … These graded stakes really make the game and it's nice to have a graded stakes win at Santa Anita. It is surreal.”
Attentive to the pace while third early, Phil D'Amato's School Dance saved ground to the top of the lane, tipped out three-wide turning for home but couldn't go with the winner while finishing second by a neck over Very Scary.
Fractions on the race were :23.44, :47.35, 1:11.05, and 1:23.06.
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