Awesome Maria spoils Unrivaled Belle’s return with Rampart
win
E. Paul Robsham Stables’ Awesome Maria tracked in third during Saturday’s
Grade 3, $150,000 Rampart at Gulfstream Park, swept by the longtime leader on
the turn and pulled away to score by eight lengths in the 1 1/8-mile test under
jockey John Velazquez. The Todd Pletcher trainee stopped the clock in 1:49 to
move her 2011 record to a perfect two-for-two.
Persuading quickly took command of the race, with reigning Grade 1 Breeders’
Cup Ladies’ Classic queen Unrivaled Belle settled just to her outside in her first start
since that November 5 championship event. Awesome Maria wasn’t far back in
third, running just off Unrivaled Belle’s flank, and those three led the way on
the backstretch.
Successful Song took up a spot in fourth a little farther back, but scooted
up the rail as the top three hit the turn. However, Awesome Maria had already
got the jump on that runner, sprinting past Persuading and Unrivaled Belle to
take over by the time the field straightened out for the stretch run. The gray
four-year-old miss drew off to be clear on the wire as the 4-5 favorite,
returning $3.80, $3 and $2.10.
“She was really good today. Around the first turn she relaxed really well for
me and then was there for me when I needed her,” Velazquez said. “There was no
question in my mind about the extra distance going into this race. The only
question was: Would she relax? — which she did.”
Successful Song, the 25-1 longest shot on the board, easily held Unrivaled
Belle by 2 1/4 lengths on the line, while Persuading finished another 1 3/4
lengths back in fourth.
Trainer Bill Mott was more than willing to write off Unbridled Belle’s
third-place finish as a much-needed race since she hadn’t started since scoring
in the Ladies Classic on November 5.
“We thought it was possible first start out going a mile and an eighth. A
mile and an eighth is kind of stretching it to begin with. That’s about as far
as she wants to run,” Mott said. “First time out of the box, a flat mile race
might have been better for us, but we’re trying to get to the (May 6 Grade 2) La
Troienne (at Churchill Downs), and this was nice timing to do that.”
Stephanie Got Even and Dubai Dancer finished the order
under the wire after Joanie’s Catch was scratched.
Awesome Maria opened her career under the tutelage of trainer Stanley Hough,
breaking her maiden by 8 1/4 lengths at Saratoga in 2009 before taking the Grade
2 Matron by 2 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park. She closed out her juvenile campaign
with a head second in the Grade 1 Frizette and didn’t reappear for 11 months.
The gray miss made her sophomore bow a half-length victory in last September’s
Riskaverse Stakes for new trainer Pletcher, but was unable to challenge when a
distant third in the Grade 2 Cotillion next out.
Awesome Maria showed much more when fourth, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths, in the
Topicount Stakes in late October, and finished out the year with a runner-up
effort in the Grade 1 Gazelle. She returned much quicker as a four-year-old,
posting a 4 3/4-length score in the Grade 3 Sabin at Gulfstream in mid-February,
and now boasts a 10-5-3-1, $602,375, career record.
“She just reached a new level in her training since we got her down here this
winter,” Pletcher said. “We’ll point her to the (June 18 Grade 1) Ogden Phipps
([at Belmont Park), but she might run in the (May 21 Grade 2) Shuvee (at
Belmont) before that.”
Bred by Mrs. E. Paul Robsham in Kentucky, Awesome Maria is the first
registered foal out of the unraced Discreetly Awesome, who has since produced a
juvenile colt named Yes I’m Awesome.
Discreetly Awesome is herself a daughter of Grade 1 winner and 1994 Grade 1
Matron runner-up Pretty Discreet, making her a half-sister to Grade 1-winning
millionaire Discreet Cat, multiple Grade 1-placed stakes hero Pretty Wild and
last year’s Grade 1 King’s Bishop victor Discreetly Mine. This is also the
family of 1987 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks queen Buryyourbelief.