Don’t Tell Sophia rallies for Locust Grove victory

Don’t Tell Sophia made a successful return to competition in the Locust Grove (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Jerry Namy and trainer Philip Sims’ Don’t Tell Sophia ran down 16-1 longshot Frivolous in the lane of Saturday’s $108,200 Locust Grove Stakes at Churchill Downs to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths under jockey Joe Rocco Jr. in her first start since the March 15 Azeri. “She’s been doing well and she’s been training fine. We went into this race with a lot of confidence,” Sims said. “She shows up, you can count on her. She likes this track, too, a whole lot. If you look at her, you know she’s not a thousand dollar horse. She just happened to be in the right place. “She’s by Congaree who wasn’t a faster stallion, but that’s what I look for. Her mother was a graded stakes-placed horse, and her mother was a nice horse. I look for those kind of horses, maybe not that fast of stallion but they can have the physique as well. “I don’t know,” he added in regards to Don’t Tell Sophia’s next start. “There’s the (Grade 1, $500,000) Spinster (at Keeneland on October 5) that could be a possibility. We’ll just see. This filly ran a game race to Close Hatches at Oaklawn. We’ll see.”

Baby Fresh led the way onto the backstretch through an opening :25 1/5
quarter while tracked by 9-5 favorite On Fire Baby and Frivolous to her outside.
On Fire Baby was in command by a half in :49 3/5 as Baby Fresh faded, but the
public’s choice also wearied and found herself passed by Frivolous rounding the
final turn.

Don’t Tell Sophia had been biding her time in the rear of the field but began
picking off rivals while going five wide around the turn. Entering the lane,
Frivolous found Molly Morgan and Don’t Tell Sophia lined up to her outside, with
the latter hitting high gear by midstretch.

Don’t Tell Sophia continued pulling away to finish 1 1/16 miles on the fast
main track in 1:44 4/5. She paid $6.20 for the win as the 2-1 second favorite.

“She was able to lay a little closer than she normally does; she did that on
her own,” Rocco explained. “The pace made it easier for her to be a little
closer. So she stayed in within striking range. With the slow fractions you
always worry they might run on by you; but she did well today I had a lot of
horse.

“They really did an amazing job with her coming off of that layoff and boy
was she ready today.”

Molly Morgan just nipped Frivolous by a nose on the wire to take second,
while Ria Antonia followed by another 3 1/4 lengths in fourth.

“It was a good trip; I found myself right behind Frivolous and On Fire Baby,”
described Corey Lanerie, who had piloting duties on Molly Morgan. “I was hoping
to get to the rail and maybe give her the same kind of trip I gave her (when
winning) the Fleur de Lis (by four lengths in June), but it didn’t work out. I
had a good trip all-in-all. Unfortunately, we were just second best today.”

Baby Fresh and On
Fire Baby completed the order under the wire, and Tapit’s World was withdrawn.

“I think it’s time for her to go home and be a broodmare. We’ve had a good
run, but it’s time,” stated On Fire Baby’s owner/breeder, Anita Cauley.

Don’t Tell Sophia is now 21-10-4-3 in her career having banked $679,295
lifetime. She made her debut racing over synthetic and turf tracks as a juvenile
and sophomore, but it wasn’t until Sims switched her permanently to the dirt
that the bay mare began showing promise.

The six-year-old daughter of Congaree dominated her first dirt try in 2011 at
Hoosier Downs by 8 3/4 lengths, but wouldn’t visit that surface again until
capturing an allowance sprint at Churchill by 3 1/2 lengths in November 2012.
She went on to open last season at
Oaklawn Park
with a 7 1/4-length score in the Pippin and a 6 1/2-length romp in the Bayakoa,
then was given the summer off following nice placings in the Azeri and Apple
Blossom.

Don’t Tell Sophia reappeared in October at Indiana Downs and preceded to run
a half-length second in that track’s Mari Hulman George Stakes, capture her
first graded credit in Churchill’s Chilukki and close out the year with a nice
second in the Falls City Handicap under the Twin Spires.

She once again began the year at Oaklawn, defending her Pippin and Bayakoa
titles, and was third in the Azeri before being put on the shelf.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonerside Stable, Don’t Tell Sophia was a bargain at the
2009 Keeneland
September Yearling Sale when snatched up by Sims for only $1,000. She is out
of the Grade 2-placed Valid Expectations mare Lost Expectations, making her a
half-sister to multiple Grade 3-placed stakes queen Summer Song.

Lost Expectations is herself a three-quarter sibling to Grade 2-placed stakes
winner Lost Appeal, and this female family is also responsible for Grade
2-placed stakes victor Knight of Armor as well as stakes scorers Heartleaf and
Saints Leader.

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