John D Gunther’s homebred BENDING STRINGS (American Chance) moved to the fore
at the head of the stretch and flew home an authoritative 4 1/2-length winner of
the $169,350
Chilukki H. (G2) at Churchill Downs on Sunday. Ridden by Robby
Albarado, the four-year-old filly raced within striking range as pacesetter
Tempus Fugit (Alphabet Soup) carved out ambitious splits of :22 4/5 and :45 1/5
for the opening half-mile. From there it was easy, as the classy lass did the
rest in emphatically breaking her nine-race losing streak. The Wally Dollase
trainee completed one mile over the fast surface in a swift 1:35, and gave back
$4.60, $3 and $2.40 as the 6-5 favorite.
Prospective Saint (Saint Ballado) had a momentary lead as they approached the
stretch run, but could not match strides with the winner late, giving back $7.20
and $6 in a game runner-up performance. The 8-1 shot completed the $36.80
exacta. Late runner Miss Fortunate (Deputy Minister) closed belatedly on the
inside to garner show honors, another 3 1/2 lengths back. At 7-1 odds, the mare
was good for $5.20 while rounding out the $197.60 trifecta. Journey Fever (Gold
Fever) was on the bottom end of a $1,781.80 superfecta ($1) at 55-1.
Kristy Beethoven (Kris S.) was next and followed by Beautiful Bets (Alphabet
Soup), Savorthetime (Gilded Time), Plumlake Lady (Carson City), Tappin For Gold
(Pleasant Tap), My Ro (Dixieland Band) and Tempus Fugit.
Bending Strings notched her fourth graded stakes tally overall in moving her
career line to 24-6-8-1 with earnings of $833,385. The dark bay captured the
2004 First Flight H. (G2), Nassau County Breeders’ Cup S. (G2) and Safely Kept
Breeders’ Cup S. (G3), while placing in seven other graded affairs.
The Kentucky-bred winner was produced from the stakes-winning Straight South
(Hail The Pirates) and counts herself as a half-sibling to the stakes-winning
mare Dixie Premiere (Mane Minister).