Guillermo Berrios’ My Wandy’s Girl made amends for a runner-up finish in last
The Barbara Fritchie was held seven days later than originally scheduled
La Verdad, who brought a five-race win streak into her stakes debut, showed
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Verdad carried her two rivals wide into the stretch. She dug in determinedly
as My Wandy’s Girl and Centrique tried to catch her, leading by a head after six
furlongs in 1:10 2/5, but could not withstand the late surge of My Wandy’s Girl,
who gamely got up between rivals in deep stretch. She completed the
seven-furlong event in 1:23 3/5 on the fast track.
“It was a very competitive race,” Maragh said. “I had one to the inside and
one to the outside and my horse showed a lot of guts by holding them off.
“I was hoping to be up close without using her too much. I didn’t want the
three (La Verdad) to be out there all alone. My horse seems to have much better
fight when she’s in a real race. I kept her off the rail because it seems to be
a disadvantage today. She was getting tired but I switched leads and she found
more in her.”
Hushion captured the Barbara Fritchie for the third time in his training
career, sending out previous winners Golden Dawn (2008) and Harissa (2011).
Off as the 5-2 third choice among seven rivals, My Wandy’s Girl paid $7.20 to
win. La Verdad, the 2-1 second choice, held second by a neck over 9-5 favorite
Centrique. The rest of the field was never a factor, with Merry Meadow, Access
to Charlie, Flattering Bea and Baragh completing the order of finish.
A daughter of Flower Alley, My Wandy’s Girl initially sold for $40,000 as a
weanling at the 2009 Keeneland November sale. She RNA’ed for $50,000 as a
yearling at Keeneland September sale and was purchased by Berrios for only
$15,000 at the 2011 OBS March two-year-old sale. She made her first 18 starts in
Puerto Rico before being sent to the United States in the fall of 2012.
The chestnut won 14 of her 18 starts in Puerto Rico, including four stakes,
and headed to the United States with an eight-race winning streak in tow
following a 12 1/4-length tally in the Roberto Clemente in August 2012. My
Wandy’s Girl won her first start stateside, posting a one-length victory in the
6 1/2-furlong Pentelicus before concluding the 2012 season with a third in the
Grade 1 Gazelle.
She raced sparingly last season. After finishing second by three parts of a
length to Funnys Approval in the Barbara Fritchie, My Wandy’s Girl went on to
record another close second in the Grade 2 Ruffian about two months later but
made only one more start in 2013, a fifth in the Garland of Roses at Aqueduct on
December 7. She came back from a 77-day freshening Saturday.
Bred in Kentucky by PHW Equine Investments LLC, My Wandy’s Girl is out of the
unraced Unbridled’s Song mare Unbridled Secret. Her third maternal dam, English
Group 3 winner Storm Star, is responsible for Grade 3 winner Dodge and counts as
a full-sister Starlet Storm, the dam of 1994 champion two-year-old filly
Flanders. After defeating Serena’s Song in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies,
Flanders was retired and went on to become a successful broodmare, producing
champion three-year-old filly Surfside and Grade 2 winner Battle Plan.
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