Eileen H. Hartis’ homebred PRINCESS HAYA (Street Cry [Ire]) prevailed in a
three-way photo in Sunday’s $283,376
Canadian
S. (Can-G2), narrowly defeating 1-5 favorite Forever Together (Belong to Me)
and Much Obliged (Kingmambo) to earn her first stakes victory in dramatic
fashion. A Maryland shipper trained by Michael Matz, the 15-1 shot got up late
along the inside to snatch the spoils while finishing about 1 1/8 miles in 1:45
on Woodbine’s firm turf.
Princess Haya’s odds were a reflection of her prior stakes appearance this
summer — a pair of distant seconds in the John W. Rooney Memorial S. at
Delaware Park and the Matchmaker S. at Monmouth, both rained off the turf.
Finally getting the opportunity to compete in a turf stakes, the four-year-old
bay bided her time off the pace with new rider Rafael Bejarano. Meanwhile, the
late-running Forever Together was similarly positioned.
At the head of affairs, Lomaki (A.P. Indy) set the pace under stiff pressure
from Points of Grace (Point Given) through splits of :24 1/5 and :48 2/5. Points
of Grace, the clear second choice at nearly 9-2, took charge on the turn and
inched away entering the stretch. The Malcolm Pierce trainee had no answer,
however, when tackled by her uncoupled stablemate, Much Obliged, and Forever
Together, who were both getting into high gear in midstretch. At this point,
Princess Haya was making less conspicuous progress along the rail.
Although Forever Together appeared ready to roll right on by her rivals, the
champion’s momentum stalled. Much Obliged hung tough on her inside, and Princess
Haya kept gaining ground relentlessly to make it a trio approaching the wire.
The three crossed the line abreast, with the nod going to Princess Haya. The
winner rewarded her fans with payouts of $32.10, $6.50 and $5 while keying the
$62.90 exactor, the $237.90 triactor and $453.50 superfecta (2-5-1-6).
Forever Together, who was conceding 11 pounds to Princess Haya as the
124-pound highweight, gave back $2.20 and $2.10. Much Obliged, the 8-1 third
choice, returned $3.40 for finishing another head back. Points of Grace checked
in another two lengths adrift in fourth, followed by Dance to My Tune
(Stravinsky), She’s the Umpire (Smart Strike) and Lomaki.
Princess Haya more than doubled her earnings to $307,363 from her 13-4-4-2
line. After capturing a turf maiden at Laurel last October, she scored her first
allowance win on the grass at Gulfstream in January. Princess Haya took four
more tries to clear her second-level allowance condition, finally checking that
box two starts back at Monmouth.
The Texas-bred is out of the winning Sally Slew (Slew City Slew), whose only
subsequent registered foal is a yearling full brother to the winner named Street
Flyer. This is the family of Del Mar Oaks (G3) victress Slew of Pearls (Tsunami
Slew), Pan American H. scorer Irish Rebellion (Needles) and Sanford S. hero
Louis d’Or (Centime).