Andrasta beat six other fillies and mares Monday (October 16th) in a $30,000 Virginia-bred restricted allowance race at Laurel Park. The one mile turf race was part of a new “sprinkled” program that was introduced this year to give Virginia-bred or sired horses more racing opportunities outside of stakes races.
The 4 year old Scat Daddy filly, bred and owned by James Sumter Carter, stalked the pace initially, moved up three deep to take command at the top of the stretch, and powered home to win by 4 3/4 lengths. The Hamilton Smith trainee was ridden by Alex Cintron and crossed in 1:42.94. She won her third race overall and first of 2017.
Andrasta now has career earnings of $80,802. Sheet Lightning finished second, followed by Street Miz, Aine, Daniella, Voices Only and Lilly Bay. The next “sprinkled” race is scheduled for November 2nd at Laurel. It is a $30,000 one mile allowance race on turf. The remaining two are also at Laurel on November 9th and 23rd. Conditions and other details are at vabred.org.
Keeneland was the site of another Virginia-bred score on October 14th. Play The Break, bred by Carol Holden, was best in a $24,000 claiming race held at the 1 1/16th miles distance. The 5 year old Pleasantly Perfect mare was sixth at the half but took over the lead turning for home. She won by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:44/17 and in doing so, captured her fourth straight “in the money” finish. Interestingly, all four have come at different tracks — Indiana Grand, Ellis Park, Arlington and of course, Keeneland. The Ian Wilkes trainee is out of the With Approval mare, Swans Nest.
October 13th saw a pair of Virginia-breds with six figure bankrolls reach the winners circle. Defondo and Money Tree won respectively at Woodbine and Penn National in similar claiming races at the six furlong distance. Both wore down the leaders at the top of the stretch to claim victory — Defondo won his 8th and Money Tree his 9th. The former is a 5 year old El Corredor gelding bred by Mr. & Mrs. Bertram Firestone while the latter is a 7 year old Lawyer Ron gelding bred by Morgan’s Ford Farm. Defondo’s bankroll surged to $156,999 from 26 starts and Money Tree’s went over the $100,000 mark with the triumph. Defondo, who has won 5 of 11 since relocating to Woodbine, was claimed out his race for $4750.
For fans of unusually spelled horse names, October 12th would have been a good day to play a daily double. Girlwthewrngtattoo and Ismusbemyluckyday both earned wins at Charles Town and Remington Park. The former, bred and owned by Donna Hayes, scored in a $23,000 maiden special weight race by two lengths over eight others. The latter, a 4 year old English Channel gelding bred by Chris Kuhn, beat All Behroozed by a head after the pair battled neck and neck throughout. Girlwthewrngtattoo is out of Miss Morgana by Housebuster, and Ismusbemyluckyday is out of the Favorite Trick mare, Daddy’s Favorite.
Once More For Love capped off the week with a win at Finger Lakes. The 5 year old Not For Love mare, bred by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, beat six other foes by 2 1/2 lengths after taking control at the top of the stretch. She collected her third straight “top three” finish and pushed her earnings total to $96,675.
