Lady of Fifty captures Clement L. Hirsch

Last updated: 8/3/13 10:07 PM

Lady of Fifty earned her first Grade 1 victory in the Clement L. Hirsch

(Benoit Photos)

George Todaro and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s Lady of Fifty bided her time in the
rear of Saturday’s Grade 1, $301,000 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar, came five wide around
the turn and rallied down the center of the track to record a 1 1/2-length victory
under jockey Corey Nakatani.

“I felt a little bit funny about Lady of Fifty being back so far (early on),”
Hollendorfer said. “When she came into the lane and was getting equal with them,
I thought she’d have a chance of running them down and she did.

“It’s one of the best races she’s run. It’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ (for the
Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic), so I guess we’re in.”

The four-year-old daughter of After Market ran 1 1/16 miles on the Polytrack
in 1:42 4/5 to pay $23.20, $10.20 and $5.80 as the 10-1 fifth choice in the nine distaffer field.

“This (victory) is a tribute to Jerry and his staff,” Nakatani stated.
“They’ve done a wonderful job with her.

“She’s been training really good and I had a lot of confidence riding her
today. On the turn, I saw them bunching up inside and she was rolling so good I
didn’t want to stop her. So we went out and that allowed her to keep her
momentum. She’s a real nice filly. There’s no doubt about that.”

Nakatani settled Lady of Fifty just off the rail down the backstretch as
Sister Kate set the pace through splits of :23 2/5, :47 and 1:11 1/5. Great Hot
was pressing the entire way off Sister Kate’s flank, and those two were joined
by even-money favorite Include Me Out and Sisterhood heading into the turn.

Lady of Fifty was forced to angle out widest of all to get past the wall
horses in front of her but unlike Byrama, who had saved ground on the inside
before finding herself under a stranglehold to keep from running up on the
hooves of her rivals, never had her momentum effected entering the stretch. The gray
lass kept motoring and easily ran down her rivals as Byrama finally found room
down on the rail to rally for third, a half-length behind More Chocolate.

“It was a good race for her; a good try. But I was just a little out of horse
at the end,” said Rafael Bejarano, who had piloting duties aboard More
Chocolate.

“I had a rough trip,” Gary Stevens remarked about his ride aboard Byrama. “At
the quarter-pole I had to take a hold of her and wait. She re-rallied for me,
but she’s not the kind of filly that wants to get stopped or wait. It was just
unfortunate. She’s a good one.”

Lady of Fifty has proven to be a very smart purchase by her connections

(Benoit Photos)

Great Hot rounded out the top four under the wire while Sisterhood, Via
Villaggio, Sister Kate, Include Me Out and Quiet Oasis completed the order of
finish.

“I wish I knew (what happened to her),” a puzzled Joe Talamo spoke of Include
Me Out’s eighth-place effort. “We were in a perfect spot and at the
three-eighths (pole) she gave me a little run. But then it just wasn’t there.
Down the lane there was nothing.”

Lady of Fifty earned her first win of the year in this spot, improving her
resume to read 16-7-1-5 with this initial Grade 1 score. It was also her first
victory since closing out her sophomore season with a 3 1/4-length triumph in
the December 8 Bayakoa.

Since then, the gray filly has run fourth in the La
Canada, third in the Santa Maria, second in the Marjorie L. Everett Handicap and
third last out in the Vanity Handicap in her first try against Grade 1
competition.

Lady of Fifty only cost her connections $40,000 as a Keeneland September
yearling, and padded her already profitable bankroll with the $180,000 winner’s
share to show $593,000 in lifetime earnings.

Bred in Kentucky by Cloverleaf Farms II Inc., Lady of Fifty is out of the
Grade 3-placed Maria’s Mon mare K. D.’s Shady Lady, making her a half-sister to
stakes hero Forestry Steel. This is the same female family as dual Grade 1 king
Diazo and Grade 3 winner Real Dandy.

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