Whispering Oaks Farm LLC’s Street Story rallied in the stretch of Sunday’s
Grade 3, $150,000
Victory Ride at Belmont Park to record a 1 3/4-length victory
with jockey Joel Rosario aboard. The Street Cry lass sprinted 6 1/2 furlongs
over the fast main track in 1:17 to return $22.20 as the 10-1 fifth choice in
the seven-filly field.
Red Velvet, the 8-5 favorite, set a blistering pace on the lead in :21 2/5
and :44 1/5 with Fat Kat keeping in close attendance. Miss Behaviour and West
Coast Chick tracked in the second flight of runners, while Street Story bided
her time near the rear.
Fat Kat couldn’t keep pace for long with Red Velvet, and the leader was
tiring from the quick fractions herself. Miss Behaviour moved up to Red Velvet’s
outside rounding the turn and took over in the stretch. However, the Jump Start
filly was also feeling the effects from the early pace and had nothing to
withstand Street Story’s late rally in the final furlongs.
“I saw there was a lot of speed, and I was right,” Rosario remarked. “In a couple of races she had
come from off the pace, and that was the reason why I thought she’d have a good
chance. I saw (Miss Behaviour) starting to slow down, and (Street Story) kept
fighting and fighting. Going past the eighth-pole, I thought I had a good chance
to win the race.”
Miss Behavior was second by 1 1/2 lengths over Milam, who rallied from the
back to nip Red Velvet by a nose on the line. West Coast Chick, Isabelle and Fat
Kat completed the order under the wire.
Street Story entered the Victory Ride owning wins in the Dixie Belle and
Instant Racing at Oaklawn Park from earlier this season. She actually was making
her first start on Sunday since that latter race in mid-April. The Steve
Asmussen-trained dark bay began her career at Churchill Downs last summer,
missing in her first race before breaking her maiden just 21 days later. She
closed out her juvenile campaign with a runner-up effort in her stakes bow, the
Letellier Memorial, at Fair Grounds.
Street Story improved her scorecard to 4-1-0 from eight starts by taking her
graded debut in the Victory Ride, and has now banked $251,210 lifetime.
“She’s been here for about a month and a half. We
freshened her up and gave her three breezes here,” assistant trainer Toby Sheets
said. “She’s been doing really,
really good; she likes it here. The pace worked out super, it was a big plus
today. We’re just going to enjoy the moment and go from there.”
Bred in Kentucky by John C. Oxley, Street Story sold for $155,000 to her
current owners at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The dark bay miss
is out of the winning Tale of the Cat mare Perfect Story, making her a
half-sister to multiple Grade 2-placed Medjool.
Perfect Story is herself a daughter of 2001 Broodmare of the Year Turko’s
Turn and counts as a half-brother Horse of the Year, champion three-year-old
colt and multiple classic hero Point Given. She has another half-sibling in last
Saturday’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks runner-up Live for Now. This female family
also includes Grade 1 scorer Badger Land and multiple Grade 2 victor Dignitas.
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