Washington Bridge scores in Bayakoa

Washington Bridge is likely to dodge stablemate Blind Luck for the time being (Benoit Photos) Mark DeDomenico LLC and Jerry Hollendorfer’s WASHINGTON BRIDGE (Yankee Gentleman) circled the entire field on the second turn of Sunday’s $150,000 Bayakoa H. (G2) at Hollywood Park and ran down a pacesetting Sister Dawn (Indian Charlie) to take her graded bow by 1 3/4 lengths. The sophomore miss used the same type of late run utilized so effectively by retired dual champion Zenyatta, who earlier had a resounding send off from the track, to finish the 1 1/16-mile feature in 1:44 1/5 on the Cushion Track. Sister Dawn broke on top from her innermost post and proceeded to lead the way through splits of :23 3/5, :47 3/5, 1:12 2/5 and 1:37 3/5. Lady Railrider (Ride the Rails) wasn’t far back, keeping in close attendance to the outside, while jockey Rafael Bejarano settled Washington Bridge in last while running wide. The pair maintained their wide trip into the stretch run, circling all rivals on the turn and powering down the center of the track, to easily overtake Sister Dawn before hitting the wire in front. “Last time I didn’t have to do too much with her because there weren’t too many horses and I knew I would get a good trip,” Bejarano said. “Today, I didn’t want to get in trouble and just wanted to make sure I didn’t get stopped. After the first turn she got into a comfortable stride and I liked my position so I just decided to stay behind the other horses.”

Washington Bridge was sent off the 5-1 fourth choice in the
seven-horse field, paying $12, $6.40 and $4.40, while Sister Dawn was
worth $13.40 and $7 as the 12-1 longest shot on the board. The duo
comprised the $73.80 exacta ($1), while Zardana (Brz) (Crimson Tide)
completed the $282.90 trifecta ($1) when crossing under the wire a
length back of Sister Dawn. Zardana, the defending champion of the
Bayakoa, gave back $3.20 as the near 5-2 favorite, and it was another 1
1/4 lengths back to Silver Swallow (Alphabet Soup), who finished the
7-2-3-4 superfecta ($1) that totaled $1,712.20.

“You know what, I thought I had it at the quarter-pole,” said Alonzo
Quinonez, who was aboard Sister Dawn. “The winner was just too wide and my filly
didn’t see her coming. If she would have been closer to me, I think my filly
would have made it tougher on the other one.”

Wynning Ride (Candy Ride [Arg]), Sweet August Moon (Malibu Moon) and Lady
Railrider followed the top four under the line after It Tiz (Tiznow) was an
early scratch.

The Hollendorfer-trained Washington Bridge entered the Bayakoa off a 2
1/4-length victory in the Life is Sweet S. at Hollywood on November 12. That
followed an allowance win over the Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields, and the bay
filly’s only other win this year also came at Golden Gate in an optional claimer
on February 7. Unplaced in all other previous tries against black-type company,
Washington Bridge appears to have turned a corner, having now won three straight
races including two stakes. Her record reads 18-5-4-0 and she boosted her
earnings to $221,089 with this score.

“Sometimes the horse gets the idea, turns around and starts doing things
right. This is the third time in a row that she put it all together,”
Hollendorfer said. “She was very nervous earlier in her career but she’s settled
down quite a bit lately. We just took our time, schooled her a lot and stood her
at the gate a lot. The way that Rafael was riding her, I thought when he was
sitting back there that he felt quite confident. Once she unleashed her run she
had a nice turn of foot.

“For now we’ll probably keep her and Blind Luck (Pollard’s Vision)
separated,” Hollendorfer added.

Bred by Brereton C. Jones in Kentucky, the sophomore miss passed through the
Keeneland sales ring twice without selling either time. She RNAed for $24,000 as
a November weanling and returned as a September yearling to RNA once again for
$23,000. Out of multiple stakes winner Stirling Bridge (Prized), Washington
Bridge is a half-sister to Grade 3-placed Fire Path (Tale of the Cat), stakes
victress Noble Bandit (Cat Thief), the yearling William Wallace (The Daddy) and
an unnamed weanling by Stevie Wonderboy.

Stirling Bridge is herself a daughter of Grade 3 heroine Early Lunch (Noble
Table), and this is the same family as French One Thousand Guineas scorer Yla (*Migoli)
and Grade 1-winning sire Mehmet (His Majesty).