Phola, who is owned in partnership by George Saufley, Graydon
As Cure for Sale loped through fractions of :24 4/5, :49 3/5 and 1:14
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Although Cure for Sale clung grimly to the lead at the top of the stretch,
Hot Cha Cha had all the momentum, and she rolled to the front. No sooner had Hot
Cha Cha kicked clear, than Phola struck top gear wider out. Devouring the ground
rapidly, Phola blew past Hot Cha Cha and drew off to score with authority. The
winner negotiated one mile on the rain-soaked going in 1:38 1/5 and returned
$15.40, $6.80 and $4.60 at a generous 6-1.
“We had a great trip,” Dominguez said. “The filly definitely loves soft
going. (Trainer) Todd (Pletcher) asked me to ride her pretty much like we did
last time. She’s so easy on herself. The ground is so soft, you don’t really
know what you have until you send her, when you ask her she’s got a
three-sixteenths, quarter of a mile (kick).”
“We handled soft ground at Tampa last time out, so we were optimistic that
she’d handle it today, though this is softer than she ran on before,” Pletcher
said. “She’s just a filly who’s finding herself and getting good. She’s getting
better and better with every race.”
The 9-2 Hot Cha Cha held second by 1 1/4 lengths, yielding $5.20 and $4. Miss
Keller (Ire) (Montjeu [Ire]) got up for third, and the 11-1 shot paid $6.20 to
show. The exotics totaled $77.60 (exacta), $642 (trifecta) and $2,600.60
(2-6-1-3 superfecta) with the 5-2 Fantasia (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) a one-paced
fourth. Tizaqueena, Cure for Sale and Diamondrella rounded out the order under
the wire, and Hooh Why (Cloud Hopping) was scratched.
Phola now sports a mark of 11-5-2-2 with $330,163 in her bankroll. An
impressive debut maiden winner over Arlington Park’s Polytrack as a juvenile,
the dark bay finished third in the 2008 Arlington-Washington Lassie (G3) next
time out. She plied her trade in allowance or optional claiming company
throughout 2009, winning once in a Delaware Park turf event. Phola kicked off
her four-year-old campaign with a sharp allowance score at Gulfstream Park on
February 7, and took a sizeable step forward in the aforementioned Hillsborough.
Bred in Kentucky by Andover Way and N & P Horse Racing Venture, Phola sold
for $50,000 as a 2007 Keeneland September yearling and RNA’ed for $47,000 at the
2008 OBS March sale. She’s out of the Petionville mare Humbling (Ire), who is
also the dam of a 2010 colt by Songandaprayer. Phola’s second dam is Grade 3
winner Humble Eight (Seattle Battle), the dam of stakes winner and Grade 3
runner-up Stage Call (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). This is the family of Irish
highweight and multiple Group 1 queen Balanchine (Storm Bird), who defeated
males in the 1994 Irish Derby (Ire-G1); Group 1 heroine West Wind (GB)
(Machiavellian); Group 2 vixen Red Slippers (Nureyev); and Group 2 scorer
Romanov (Ire) (Nureyev).
Phola figures to take her game to the Grade 1 level, with Pletcher mentioning
the June 5 Just a Game S. (G1) at Belmont Park as a probable target.