Runup, a James McIngvale homebred 2-year-old filly by his heavily promoted stallion Runhappy, posted a front-running $31 upset in Monday's $200,000 Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.
Trained by Laura Wohlers and ridden to victory by Joseph Ramos, Runup outhustled Jumeirah to her immediate outside to grab the early lead, cruised through fractions of :23.73, :47.69 and 1:12.74 en route to an unchallenged three-length victory clocked in 1:39.82 on a fast main track.
Jumeirah held second, with 6-5 favorite Gimmick third and Microbiome fourth, You Look Cold fifth and Kingdom Queen rounding out the field of six juvenile fillies. Maestria was scratched.
Produced from the Street Cry mare Up the Street, Runup was bred in Maryland and began her racing career on turf at Colonial Downs in Virginia, finishing third in a maiden race behind Cavalier Cupid. who came out of that race to win the Keswick Stakes at Colonial.
Runup graduated next out in a $40,000 maiden claiming event at Pimlico on Aug. 13, going wire to wire to win by 6 1/4 lengths. She is from the second crop by sprint champion Runhappy, who stands at Claiborne Farm.
“She ran a big race,” said Wohlers. “She's still a little green and she has a lot of improvement to make but she ran a nice race. I really didn't worry about her trying two turns. She's one of those fillies that, in the morning, in her gallops or at a clip, she's still in the bridle at the end. So I really wasn't worried about the distance. I was more concerned about her stepping up into this company with her still being green. She's a little hard to gallop. She's always on the go, like her dad (Runhappy) was. I think she is going to improve the more she runs. We're really happy today. Of course, we're happy for Runhappy. He's our boy.
“She's very fast,” Wohlers added. “You always wonder if they're going to be able to convert that into a distance and going two turns. With the exception of her dad she probably has more speed than any horse we've had in our barn since then. I think she does want to go long and I think she showed today she can do it.”
“I rode a filly at Indiana Grand for Laura and she told me she had another filly she liked and asked me if I would go to Monmouth Park to ride her,” said Ramos. “That's how I wound up getting the mount. I came in just for this race. It's my first time at Monmouth Park. There was a lot of speed in this race but my filly also has good speed and they felt she would have no trouble going long. She broke out of there so sharp. I kept her relaxed and started talking to her at the quarter pole and she responded for me. I was thinking then that maybe I had this race because they were not coming at me. She's a nice filly. She loves to run. I was a little worried about the two turns because she had only sprinted in her two races before this one. But she went right to the front and just kept going.”
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