Pipit and jockey Patrick Husbands took the $125,000 Victoria Stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday at Woodbine in impressive fashion.
A late vet scratch of Got's Got It left this field with only four runners for the 5 1/2-furlong contest, and Pipit was the only filly in the field.
After an even start, favorite Mattingly had the inside lead with Yacht Boy close behind. Ron Potts trained Going Up trailed five lengths behind in the third, and Pipit rated in fourth under Patrick Husbands.
At the quarter, Going Up and Pipit closed the gap, as Pipit moved into third from the outside. It was then a battle between Mattingly, Pipit, and Going Up, with Yacht Boy a length behind in fourth. Down the stretch Pipit surged to the front from the outside, taking the win by four lengths. Mattingly held on for second, a half-length in front of Going Up in third. Yacht Boy was fourth to complete the order of finish.
The final time was 1:03:60 on the Tapeta.
Trainer Kevin Attard is familiar with having a filly beat the boys in a stakes race, with 2022 Horse of the Year Moira having accomplished the feat in last year's Queen's Plate. Pipit and Moira also share the ownership group of X Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, and SF Racing LLC.
“I was a little disappointed with her first start. I thought she was good enough to win her first time out. She kind of opened up a good lead and got loafing,” Attard said. “We came back and experimented with the blinkers. I thought she breezed well, so I thought we would give it a go today.”
Pipit paid $5.60 to win. She entered Sunday's contest off a runner-up finish in her debut in a five-furlong maiden special weight race June 3 at Woodbine but made amends with aplomb in the Victoria with Patrick Husbands aboard for the first time..
Husbands let the Quality Road filly get comfortable in the early going.
“She was a little bit confused with the blinkers, she was like, 'What is this on my face', so it took about 10 strides to get her going,” Husbands said. “She got in the race, then I had to give her a breather so she could get a second wind and she just exploded.”
Pipit, who is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Browse, was bred in Kentucky by Gage Hill Stables and W. S. Farish. Offered by Farish's Lane's End, she sold to X-Men Racing for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
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