Return to Home Page
|
Prospective, Salad Girl reign in Tampa Bay Downs stakes
 |
| Trainer Mark Casse is
looking forward to bigger and better things following Prospective's
Pasco win
(Tom Cooley Photography) |
Trainer Mark Casse was baffled by Prospective's 13th-place finish in
last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, but felt a lot
better about the Kentucky-bred colt's long-term prospects after a
half-length victory in Saturday's $65,000
Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
"(The Juvenile) disappointed me. Whenever you see a race like
that...but, I have a little more faith after today," said Casse, who
added the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes on February 4 could be next on
Prospective's agenda.
Despite a flapping piece of white tape from his right hind leg,
Prospective wore down Wildcat Creek to win in 1:23.88, just .21 seconds
off the stakes record. The dark bay son of Malibu Moon was ridden to
victory in the seven-furlong, fast dirt contest by Luis Contreras,
returning $7.20, $3.80 and $3.20 as the 5-2 second choice in the
10-horse field
Prospective, who captured the Grade 3 Grey Stakes at Woodbine in
October, endured some early bumping out of the gate, but that didn't
concern Casse or Contreras. "He did get bothered a little bit, but I wasn't expecting him to be close,
anyway," Casse said of the John C. Oxley colorbearer. "So it kind of worked out
fine. I thought coming off his route races he wouldn't be able to keep up early,
and he didn't. I thought it might be déjà vu after the Gasparilla when (Wildcat
Creek) was ahead of him, but my horse is bred to run on." |
Contreras, meanwhile, barely noticed the early contact out of the gate.
"He broke very well and settled down nicely," the rider said. "In the turn, I
asked him to close on the leaders and he closed very quickly and just swept by
them. I really like this horse. The Breeders' Cup was really disappointing, but
I'd like to get back to Churchill with him again."
Prospective King ran his record to 5-3-1-0, $191,317, with the Pasco victory.
Out of the stakes-winning Awesome Again mare Spirited Away, Prospective King's
third dam is 1987 champion older mare North Sider (Topsider).
Adirondack King, the 9-5 favorite in the Pasco, rallied strongly to finish
third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Wildcat Creek. The bay son of Lawyer Ron pleased
trainer John Servis with his effort.
"I don't think the No. 1 post helped," Servis he said. "She (jockey Rosemary
Homeister Jr.) had to steady a little bit going into the turn, but all in all
I'm happy with his race. I would have liked to see him win, but I'm not
disappointed at all."
Burning Time grabbed fourth and was followed under the wire by For Oby,
Moroccan Brew, Seven Kind, Angelofdistinction, Talented Whiz and Spirit Amour.
 |
| Salad Girl mixed it up in the Gasparilla
(John Duca/Tom Cooley Photography) |
In the $52,500 co-feature, the
Gasparilla Stakes sending three-year-old fillies seven furlongs, the winning
and runner-up connections were reversed from the Pasco.
Salad Girl -- trained by Edward Plesa Jr. and ridden by Angel Serpa, the
connections of Wildcat Creek – outlasted the Casse-trained and Contreras-ridden
Delightful Magic, the 4-5 favorite, by a neck.
Salad Girl, a New Jersey homebred for Joel Kligman, made a bold move on the
turn and showed good courage through the lane in staving off Delightful Magic.
The chestnut daughter of Hit the Trail ran the distance in 1:24.14, only .11
seconds off the stakes record.
"I was farther back than I hoped to be, so all I could do was take hold and
wait," Serpa said. "When I saw the rail open, I asked her and she responded so
good. She went through so fast. Then when she felt that other filly outside her,
I rode her hard and she responded again. She is such a nice filly."
Salad Girl shipped up from her training base at Calder in Miami the morning
of the race with Frank Perez, the long-time assistant to Plesa.
|
"I was keeping one eye on her and one eye on my bed, and she handled the trip
very well," Perez said. "This filly was training very well, so we figured we had
to take the shot at this race. The jockey did a great job today. We'll she how
she comes back, but it looked like she came back 100 percent so whatever they
decide, I'm ready for her."
It was the second consecutive stakes victory for Salad Girl, who won the
Jersey Juvenile Fillies Stakes on October 29 at Monmouth and moved her career
line to 4-3-1-0, $98,100. Out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Indian Boot's,
she was worth $18.40, $5.60 and $4.40 to her backers.
Ciguaraya rallied for third in the 10-horse field and was followed under the
wire by Venetian Sonata, Backstage Magic, Ode to Sami, Grand Entry, Jamraa,
Forever Noble and With Excellence.
Send this article to a friend
|
|
