Tag: Racing

Charmaine’s Mia Holds Off Dogtag In Royal Heroine For Third Consecutive Stakes Win

Consistent Charmaine's Mia rung up her third consecutive graded stakes victory of the meeting as she led gate to wire in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., winning by a half length.  Trained by Phil D'Amato and ridden by Flavien Prat, Charmaine's Mia got a mile on turf in 1:33.76.

Breaking from post position three, she held a one-length advantage over Laura's Light heading into the first turn and was in control thereafter, but was all-out to hold off the late run of Dogtag, who simply ran out of real estate.

A one-length winner of the G2 Buena Vista Stakes over the course on Feb. 20, Charmaine's Mia, a 5-year-old mare by top sprinter The Factor, was off as the 3-5 favorite and paid $3.20, $2.40 and $2.10.

Dogtag, trained by Richard Mandella and idle since a fifth Aug. 2 at Del Mar, rallied well and finished 1 ¼ lengths in front of consistent Warren's Showtime.  Off at 6-1, Dogtag paid $4.80 and $3.20.

California-bred Warren's Showtime put in her customary solid stretch run, but was third best under Juan Hernandez.  Off at 5-1, she paid $2.60 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.59, 46.02, 1:09.86 and 1:21.72.

Post-race quotes:

FLAVIEN PRAT, CHARMAINE'S MIA, WINNER: “For some reason she's really good out there. She always leaves really fast and she relaxed down the backside and responded when it was time to go. I was hoping she would break like she did and take advantage of it otherwise, I would probably sit and get her to relax. She's really brave and she was training really hard. It's great to have family here and fans.

UMBERTO RISPOLI, DOGTAG, SECOND: “She went phenomenal, I mean she was out for a long time to come back in a good race like that, and the winner I think she's a very classy good filly. Flavien broke off and put a good pace on it, and then she give him the kick at the quarter pole. Actually, my plan was to just track him from close, but my filly from way off she break a little bit slower than usual. I got a good trip because I'm just right behind Raymundos Secret and you know, the winner, but at the same time, Flavien has that kick, and that advantage at the top of the stretch took that away from me. Probably if I track him from close, it would probably be a different story, I don't know if I can get him, but definitely I can give him more hard time, as much as I do.”

PHIL D'AMATO, CHARMAINE'S MIA, WINNER: “Flavien got her out beautifully and he rated her perfectly. Once he shot out of there like a rocket, he made her relax and he had enough to hold off Dogtag.”  (What's next?)  “We are looking at a Grade 1 race here at Santa Anita about five or six weeks down the road.”

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‘Getting Extremely Good At The Perfect Time’: Pauline’s Pearl Takes Fantasy Stakes

Stonestreet Stables, LLC's Pauline's Pearl lived up to her 4-to-5 odds and secured herself a spot in the starting gate for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks (G1) with her one-length victory in Saturday's $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark.

Pauline's Pearl raced wide early in fourth place as Ava's Grace led the field of 3-year-old fillies through opening fractions of :23.11 and :46.86 for the first half mile. The heavy favorite moved within a head of the leader after three-quarters in 1:11.84 before shaking clear late to win the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:43.64 over a fast track. Coach, the 3-1 second choice, closed late to get up for third.

Take Charge Lorin, Sylvia Q and West Side Girl completed the order of finish. Sun Path was scratched.

“She's all class,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “Has a tremendous pedigree. She's gotten better every day. She's gotten faster with each race. She's getting extremely good at the perfect time.”

Pauline's Pearl earned 100 points with her victory in the Fantasy and is now ranked fourth on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with a total of 120 points. Ava's Grace, who had no previous points, earned 40 points for second. Coach earned 10 points for thirdand Take Charge Lorin earned 10 points for her fourth-place finish, but is not nominated to the Kentucky Oaks. The Oaks is limited to 14 starters.

Updated Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks leaderboards

Pauline's Pearl, a homebred by Tapit out of Grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick, also trained by Asmussen, improved her record to 2-1-1 in five career starts and has now earned $461,500. She returned $3.60, $2.80 and $2.10.

There will be no live racing Sunday in observance of the Easter holiday. Live racing will resume Thursday, April 8 for the start a four-day race week highlighted by the $1 million Arkansas Derby and three other stakes on Saturday, April 10.

Post-race quotes

Winning trainer Steve Asmussen, Pauline's Pearl: “With who she is and the confidence that race (Honeybee) gave us, I think Ricardo (Santana) used more of her today, put her in a better position. He said how confident he was around there. He used a little of her away from there, just to not hand it to them. Said down the backside she was traveling extremely comfortably and obviously we're very pleased with the results.”

“She's all class. Has a tremendous pedigree. She's gotten better every day. She's gotten faster with each race. She's getting extremely good at the perfect time.”

Winning jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., Pauline's Pearl: “We had a good trip. Everything worked out. She broke to run, settled down pretty well and I thank God for the victory today. I think she has a great future.”

Jockey Ramon Vazquez, second on Ava's Grace: “She ran a great race. She had never run that long before. She tried hard. She got a little bit tired. She's a nice filly. The trainer (Robertino Diodoro) told me to send her, maybe get one or two lengths in front. That was the plan.”

Jockey Martin Garcia, fifth with Sylvia Q: “I had a good trip. The two horses (Ava's Grace and Take Charge Lorin), they went fast and I was right behind. I had perfect position right on the rail. I know when I asked, the rail was open and she just didn't respond. It wasn't her day. But she's better than that. Today just wasn't her day.”

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‘Let’s Go’: Early Move By Prat Helps Soothsay Capture Santa Anita Oaks

Flavien Prat, Santa Anita's runaway leading rider, seized the initiative aboard lightly raced Soothsay three furlongs from home and went on to a stellar half-length score over heavily favored Beautiful Gift in Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.  Trained by Richard Mandella, Soothsay, in her second career start, got a mile and one sixteenth in 1:44.35.

“It (the pace) was pretty slow, so I thought twice and said 'Let's go, we better go now'” said Prat in reference to his bold move heading into the far turn.  “I asked her at the three furlong pole and she went so easy.  She responded really well.”

A 1 ½ length maiden winner going six furlongs on Feb. 26, Soothsay was off at 4-1 in a field of four sophomore fillies and paid $10.40 and $3.60 with no show wagering.

“We expected a lot of her from the first start and from that start until now, she just grew up,” said Mandella, who notched his fourth career win in the Oaks.  “You kind of see it happening.  Otherwise, we wouldn't do something like this.  If you watched her last workout, you could see how serious she was.  We'll see about the (Kentucky) Oaks (Grade I, April 30 at Churchill Downs).  We asked a lot of her to do this, so we'll make sure we pare back whatever we need.”

Owned by Claiborne Farm, Perry Bass, II, Ramona Bass and Adele Dilschneider, Soothsay is a Kentucky-bred filly by Distorted Humor out of the Bernardini mare Spellbound.  With the winner's share of $240,000, she sent her earnings to the $276,600 mark.

Although Beautiful Gift was sitting a seemingly perfect second, a half length off of pacesetter Moraz with three and a half furlongs to run, Moraz drifted out a bit, enabling the winner to scoot through at the rail and from the three furlong pole, Beautiful Gift was unable to wrest control, finishing second, 5 ¼ lengths in front of Moraz.

Ridden by John Velazquez and off as the 4-5 favorite, Beautiful Gift paid $2.60 to place.

“The other horse cut the corner at the top of the stretch and I had to go pretty wide, so that was the difference between winning and losing the race right there,” said Velazquez.  “The trip worked out just the way I planned it, except for the other horse getting through on the inside.”

With 170 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points at stake, Soothsay will receive 100, with 40, 20 and 10 points going to the second, third and fourth place (Javanica) finishers.

Fractions on the race were 24.34, 49.04, 1:13.18 and 1:38.08.

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