Little Red Feather Racing’s Egg Drop was all out to hold on from Appealing,
and My Gi Gi was forced to take up between them, in a climactic conclusion to
the Grade 2, $151,000
Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar. After a lengthy inquiry by the stewards,
Egg Drop was allowed to keep her hard-earned trophy in the Labor Day feature,
her first career stakes victory.
Trained by Mike Mitchell and piloted by Martin Garcia, Egg Drop was sent off
as the 3-1 second choice on the strength of her rallying second in the July 6
Royal Heroine Mile at Hollywood. Defending Yellow Ribbon champion Halo Dolly,
coming off a three-peat in the August 18 Solana Beach, garnered 9-5 favoritism.
As expected, A Jealous Woman strode right to the front through splits of :23
1/5 and :46 3/5 on the firm turf. Egg Drop slotted into the second spot, Quiet
Oasis was a keen third, and Halo Dolly was reserved in fourth. In contrast,
Appealing and My Gi Gi were among the backmarkers.
Egg Drop accosted A Jealous Woman at the six-furlong mark in 1:10 1/5, and
Halo Dolly was also on the move wider out. When Egg Drop forged ahead into the
stretch, Appealing erupted to her inside, and the stage was set for a rousing
battle. Halo Dolly was still on the premises, but she was ultimately unable to
go on with the top two.
While Egg Drop was digging in to fend off Appealing, My Gi Gi was making
eye-catching headway behind them, and she dove into the inviting seam between
them. But no sooner had Garrett Gomez committed My Gi Gi than the door was shut.
Egg Drop drifted in under right-handed urging, and Appealing also came out
slightly, and the combined effect was to squeeze My Gi Gi out.
Egg Drop kept her head in front of Appealing, and the unfortunate My Gi Gi
wound up another 1 1/2 lengths back in third, just edging Halo Dolly. The final
time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:40 2/5, but the stewards took much longer to analyze
the stretch run.
Because the incident occurred a few strides from the wire, the stewards ruled
that My Gi Gi’s finishing position was not affected. The original order of
finish was declared official, and Egg Drop’s relieved supporters collected $8 to
win.
Gomez saw the matter differently.
“Wow. That’s all I can say,” My Gi Gi’s jockey said. “If I don’t get stopped,
I win the race.”
Garcia pleaded innocence on Egg Drop’s behalf.
“I didn’t think I did anything,” Garcia said. “I think it was more a case of
the 10 (Appealing) coming out; not me. I think the stewards made a good
decision. I never heard Garrett (Gomez on My Gi Gi) or his horse behind me.”
Brice Blanc, Appealing’s rider, believed that Egg Drop had more to do with
the incident.
“I drifted out a little bit at the end, but not enough to make a difference,”
Blanc said. “If anyone was at fault, it would have to be the winner. She came
over and closed the gap on him (Gomez on My Gi Gi).”
Halo Dolly had a half-length to spare over fifth-placer Customer Base. Next
came Closing Range, Quiet Oasis, A Jealous Woman and Royal Empress. In the Stars
was withdrawn.
Egg Drop’s new career high improved her resume to 10-4-2-2, $254,020. The
gray filly captured her career debut over Del Mar’s Polytrack in the summer of
2011, defeating future Acorn and Test heroine Contested. Egg Drop was pitched
straight into a Grade 1 next time in the Alcibiades at Keeneland, but she found
trouble and ended up 10th. She made only one start at three, finishing third in
an allowance at Hollywood in June 2012.
Reappearing off a seven-month layoff in a Santa Anita allowance on January
27, Egg Drop recovered from a poor start to get up for third in the dirt sprint.
She came much closer in a similar contest on February 23, missing by a head. Egg
Drop then stretched out to two turns on March 28 and cleared her entry-level
allowance condition wire to wire. But back over the same 1 1/16-mile trip in the
April 14 Santa Lucia, she retreated to a well-beaten last of five.
Mitchell subsequently switched her to turf, and Egg Drop found her niche.
After landing a second-level allowance sprinting six furlongs at Hollywood on
May 24, she tried the Royal Heroine Mile and closed determinedly, reducing
Schiaparelli’s winning margin to a half-length. Following her Yellow Ribbon
heroics, she is now two-for-three on the grass.
“If they would have taken us down, it would have broken my heart,” Mitchell
said of the inquiry. “From the time I’ve had her I’ve been trying to win a
stakes with her.
“And when we saw what she did on the grass (last two starts) we said, ‘OK, no
dirt, no synthetics just grass from here on out.’ I think Martin rides her very
well. She’s not just a speed horse, she can sit off the pace and then make a
run.”
Bred by Centaur Farms in Florida, Egg Drop was a bargain $12,000 yearling
purchase at OBS August. She is by Alphabet Soup and out of the winning Adhocracy
mare Rehocracy, who is in turn a full sister to five-time stakes victress and
Grade 2-placed Redoubled Miss. Egg Drop descends from the same female line as
human interest story/stakes winner Lisa’s Booby Trap.