La Tia leads throughout in Arlington Matron

La Tia cruised to the wire in the Arlington Matron (Four Footed Fotos) La Tia, the 8-5 favorite and pacesetter in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Arlington Matron, proved uncatchable in the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack test for fillies and mares. Allowed to set comfortable splits of :24, :48 and 1:12, the five-year-old City Place mare drew off from her closest pursuer, Awesome Flower, at the top of the stretch and scored by 6 1/4 lengths under E.T. Baird. Trained by Armando de la Cerda for owner Salvador Hernandez, La Tia completed one lap over the Arlington oval in 1:49 3/5 and paid $5.20. “(There was) a little bit (of early pressure from Awesome Flower) but it wasn’t anything she was unable to handle,” Baird said. “I had her well in hand. Armando told me she was a kind filly and that she would pretty much do what I wanted her to do. He was exactly right. It was a pretty good feeling (when she kicked it into another gear).”

Frivolous prevailed in a three-way photo for second, a neck in front of
Awesome Flower. Ambusher was another head behind in fourth. Completing the order
of finish were Moment in Dixie, I Dazzle, Heart of Destiny, and Naples Gold, who
delayed the start after returning to the paddock for a shoe repair.

This was the fifth career stakes win for La Tia, who was bred in Illinois by
her owner. A previous Grade 3 score occurred in the course-and-distance
Arlington Oaks in 2012, the year she also won the La Lorgnette at Woodbine and
the Purple Violet for state-breds at Arlington. Her lone stakes win last season
came in the Lincoln Heritage Handicap, also a state-bred stakes, over
Arlington’s turf course.

La Tia, who also finished third in last year’s Modesty Handicap, suffered her
first defeat over Arlington’s main track in a 1 1/16-mile allowance prep on May
9. Now four-for-five on the local Polytrack, her overall record now stands at
17-7-1-3, $528,382.

La Tia is the only stakes winner produced by La Adelita, a Sky Classic
half-sister to stakes winner Jungle Pioneer. Also hailing from this family are
Group 1 winner Dactylographer and multiple Group 3 winner Tazeez, who ran third
in the 2010 Arlington Million.

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