Patricia & Stephen Fitzpatrick’s BETTARUN FAST (Kelly Kip) tracked near the
back of Saturday’s $105,650
Santa
Paula S. (G3) before skimming the rail in the stretch to get up for the
half-length victory under Aaron Gryder. The Vladmir Cerin-trained sophomore miss
finished 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15 on the wet-fast track at Santa Anita.
Acceleration (Vision and Verse) broke on top, but it was Candy Jo (Maria’s
Mon) who set the first split of :21 1/5. El Mirage Queen (Gilded Time) wasn’t far
back and quickly took over by the time a half had been reached in :43 3/5, going
on to get six furlongs in 1:08 1/5. By the eighth pole, though, Bettarun Fast had
slipped through on the inside and taken over, going on to take her graded debut.
Sent off the 31-1 second-longest shot on the board, Bettarun Fast rewarded her faithful
supporters with $64, $18.60 and $8.40 payouts while keying the $199.90 exacta
($1) and $927.20 trifecta ($1). El Mirage Queen gave back $5.60 and $3.40 at 5-1
for holding Acceleration, who was worth $3.40 at 8-1, to third by a nose.
Following the top three under the line were Ladies Souvenir (Souvenir Copy),
Candy Jo, Morethanaprincess (More Than Ready) and Brenda Meova (GB) (Dr Fong).
Though Bettarun Fast was making her graded debut in this one, she already
captured her first stakes victory when taking last year’s Catcharisingstar S. at
Calder. She also placed in the Anoakia S. in 2005 and finished second in the La
Habra S. prior to Saturday’s event. Her record now reads 8-4-2-0 with $168,505
in lifetime earnings.
Out of the unraced Split Decision (Dispersal), Bettarun Fast has a yearling
half-sister named Invisible Decision (Invisible Ink) and a 2006 half-brother by
Weekend Cruise. Bred in Florida by Shamrock Thoroughbreds & Michael and Helen
Reynolds, she brought $9,500 as an OBS August yearling.