After conceding the early advantage to even-money favorite All Due Respect,
Barry Schwartz’s Lovely Lil reasserted her superiority down the backside and
went on to post a 15-1 upset of Friday’s Grade 2, $150,000
Go for Wand Handicap
at Aqueduct. Under Cornelio Velasquez, the four-year-old returned $33.80, $9.90
and $5.90 after completing one mile over the good track in 1:36 4/5.
Away alertly from the gate, Lovely Lil was soon joined on the front end by
All Due Respect, who poked her head in front after a quarter in :23. The tempo
quickened ever so slightly as the two fillies continued their battle down the
backside, with Lovely Lil easing to the front by a half-length through a
half-mile split of :45 4/5. The margin was the same as Lovely Lil passed
three-quarters in 1:10 2/5, and turning for home both came under urging by their
riders.
It was soon apparent that Lovely Lil would continue to have the upper hand as
All Due Respect failed to make up the necessary ground. Perhaps feeling the
effects of being away from the races since early May, All Due Respect dropped 1
1/2 lengths behind Lovely Lil a furlong out and it was that longshot rival who
proved best by 1 1/4 lengths at the wire. All Due Respect outlasted stablemate C
C’s Pal for third by three-quarters of a length.
“Tactics-wise, I thought everybody might be looking around to see what
everybody else was doing,” trainer Michael Hushion said. “I gave Cornelio the
option if he wanted to take it. Even the favorite stayed off her a little bit
down the backside and stayed in a totally different path, so (Lovely Lil) had a
chance to relax. The fractions were very quick, and the final time came up good.
She ran the race of her life today.”
“The other horse (All Due Respect) put on a lot of pressure all the way, but
at the top of the stretch I had a lot of horse left.,” Velasquez noted.
Finishing fourth in the Go for Wand was Katy Now, who was followed by Risky
Rachel, Persuading and Spa City Princess. Indian Legend was eased approaching
the finish and was vanned off. Arena Elvira, the morning-line favorite, was
scratched after winning Thursday’s Grade 2 Falls City Handicap at Churchill
Downs.
All four of Lovely Lil’s prior victories occurred in New York-bred company,
the most lucrative of which was the Union Avenue Stakes at Saratoga on August
22. Though unplaced in her first two attempts in graded stakes last year, she
preceded Friday’s victory with a third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap,
followed by a second to Risky Rachel in the Iroquois Stakes for state-breds. Her
record now stands at 11-5-2-1, $284,890.
Bred by Stonewall Farm, Lovely Lil is by Tiznow out of the Pentelicus mare
How About Now, who earned her signature win in the Grade 2 Schuylerville Stakes
in 1996. Lovely Lil is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Sweet Sweet and
the stake-placed War Paint. Notables from this extend family include 1995
champion sprinter Not Surprising, Grade 2 winner Abraaj and Grade 3 winner
Leelanau.