Courtlandt Farms’ homebred INDESCRIBABLE (Pleasant Tap) put her positive
synthetic form to good use Monday at Arlington Park, wearing down Leah’s Secret
(Tiger Ridge) in the final yards to take the $150,000
Arlington Matron H. (G3) by a half-length. Ridden for the first time by
Jeremy Rose, Indescribable covered 1 1/8 miles over Polytrack in 1:49 4/5 and
returned $6, $3.20 and $2.60 as the slight 2-1 second choice. Indescribable
keyed the $21.40 exacta, $130.60 trifecta and $727.20 superfecta (5-1-2-6).
Tessa Blue (Awesome Again), the slight favorite who also started at 2-1, led
through pokey fractions of :25 1/5, :49 2/5 and 1:13, but looked like a spent
filly when Leah’s Secret moved alongside her on the rail around the far turn.
Meanwhile, Indescribable had advanced from fifth to take third after six
furlongs, and in the stretch it came down to her and Leah’s Secret. Though the
latter built up a two-length advantage with a furlong to go, she could not
withstand Indescribable who was under vigorous urging by Rose.
“She’s like night and day on Polytrack (versus dirt),” winning trainer Graham
Motion said. “We had to start her on the dirt but I knew she’d be a nice filly
on (Polytrack). I didn’t realize just how much she’d turn around on Polytrack.”
The nearly 3-1 Leah’s Secret returned $3.60 and $2.60, and finished seven lengths ahead of
Lady Carlock (Chester House), who paid $5.80 to show at 10-1. Angel Smoke (Smoke Glacken) was four lengths farther back in fourth, and was followed by Stop a
Train (Devil His Due), Tessa Blue and Awesome Ashley (Unbridled’s Song).
Ballado’s Thunder (Saint Ballado), the entrymate of Leah’s Secret, was
withdrawn.
The Arlington Matron was the first career stakes win for Indescribable, who
now owns a record of 6-3-0-2 over synthetic surfaces. The only time she was
unplaced over such a surface was in her stakes debut two back, where she
finished fifth in the El Encino S. (G2) over Santa Anita’s Cushion Track.
Indescribable more recently rebounded to finish 1 3/4 lengths third in the
Doubledogdare S. (G3) at Keeneland. Her overall record now stands at 12-4-1-3
with earnings of $219,802.
A four-year-old Kentucky-bred, Indescribable is out of the multiple
stakes-winning Flying Paster mare Catnip, who is a half-sister to European
champion Hold That Tiger (Storm Cat) and Belmont S. (G1) hero Editor’s Note
(Forty Niner). Catnip has also produced an unraced three-year-old colt named
Shryock (Dynaformer), a yearling colt by Pleasantly Perfect and 2008
filly by Arch.