Omar Aldabbagh and Jeff Ganje's Shotgun Hottie got her nose on the wire in the nick of time, gunning down Champagne Poetry to capture the 43rd running of the $100,000 Ruthless for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
Shotgun Hottie made her first start for trainer William Morey, arriving off a fourth-place finish in the Untapable on December 26 going two turns at Fair Grounds Race Course for Tom Amoss. A third-out maiden winner in her two-turn debut at Churchill Downs, Shotgun Hottie handled the cutback in distance well, making a devastating rally under Trevor McCarthy in the final sixteenth to win by a nose.
Breaking from the outermost post 7, Shotgun Hottie settled in fifth as Lady Milagro commanded the field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.72 seconds over the good main track. McCarthy started to get busy aboard Shotgun Hottie around the far turn as Lady Milagro continued to lead through a half-mile in 45.95.
Lady Milagro maintained her advantage in mid stretch with Champagne Poetry in striking range and Shotgun Hottie looming large from the outside. Lady Milagro relinquished inside the final sixteenth as Champagne Poetry briefly held command in the final strides to the wire. But Shotgun Hottie's outside rally proved to be superior as the two fillies hit the wire in tandem, with Shotgun Hottie winning the photo finish in a final time of 1:24.91.
Champagne Poetry finished another 1 3/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Lady Milagro. Completing the order of finish were Landslid, Miss Interpret, Knowing Glance and Jet Force.
The victory was a second Aqueduct stakes winner this weekend for 2021 leading freshman stallion Gun Runner, who also sired Grade 3 Withers winner Early Voting. Bred in Kentucky by Vincent Colbert, Shotgun Hottie is out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Re Entry and was bought for $45,000 out of Gene Recio's consignment at the 2021 OBS April Sale.
Returning $5.80 for a $2 win bet as the favorite, Shotgun Hottie banked $55,000 in victory, enhancing her lifetime earnings past the six-figure mark to $134,720. Her record stands at 5-2-1-0.
“She made a great run and so did the runner-up. We were charging at the wire and caught a good bob on the wire,” Morey said. “She's a nice filly and I think she wants to go further. Trevor is riding as good as anybody here so I trusted him. Our outside draw dictated where we would be. I didn't want to be quite that wide. I thought we could tuck over [into] a little tighter spot, but that's horse racing and it all worked out for us today.”
McCarthy picked up his third stakes winner of the meet aboard Shotgun Hottie, who he piloted for the first time.
“My filly ran good. Bill said to ride her like she's the best horse in here,” McCarthy said. “The rail got really good the last couple races, so I was a little worried being wide with her, but she's a filly that wants to run further. She's a bit of a grinder. That last eighth of a mile it was, 'Come on, come on,' but she just keeps grinding. She gave a great effort and all the credit to Bill and his crew for doing a great job.”
Morey said he would like to keep Shotgun Hottie in New York.
“We were dialed in on this race now and we haven't looked forward, but I'll talk to my clients and see. I think we'd like to keep her here but I'll have to talk to them,” Morey said.
Dylan Davis, aboard the Chad Summers-trained Champagne Poetry, said his filly wasn't as involved until Shotgun Hottie started matching strides.
“That's a tough way to get beat,” Davis said. “She felt good but it took her a little while to get running until that last eighth of a mile when Trevor's horse engaged her. She kind of re-rallied and she felt good there, but unfortunately she got nailed that last jump. She's still a nice horse and she's moving well. Chad does a good job. She progressed well from her last win.”
Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.
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