12/27/13
Last updated: 12/26/13 8:18 PM
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Heir Kitty showed her
affinity for sprint distances in the La Brea
(Benoit Photo) |
David Bernsen and Paul Makin’s Heir Kitty registered her first stakes victory
with a 13-1 upset in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,250
La Brea
at Santa Anita, overhauling the heavily-favored Sweet Lulu in midstretch en
route to a 1 1/4-length decision. Gary Stevens rode the Peter Miller-trained
filly.
Sweet Lulu rushed forward from her rail post and showed the way down the
backstretch, recording opening splits in :22 3/5 and :45 2/5 as Journey On
chased in second. Heir Kitty raced along the inside behind the pacesetter with
My Happy Face to her outside.
Stevens guided his mount off the rail approaching the conclusion of the far
turn and Heir Kitty entered the stretch drive full of run as Journey On began to
retreat. Sweet Lulu battled gamely as she attempted to repel her fast-finishing
challenger, but she could not match strides in the final sixteenth of a mile.
“I rode this race a bit like a turf race,” Stevens said. “I was able to sit
back in the pocket; this dirt is in unbelievable condition. We aren’t getting
near the kick-back we were getting during Breeders’ Cup and the fall meet.
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“I was able to tuck in there and I have very little dirt on me now even. She
was content and stayed comfortable. It’s easy to ride those turf races that way
and very rarely do you get that opportunity on the dirt.”
“The winner, she was the best today,” said Rafael Bejarano, rider of Sweet
Lulu. “It wasn’t a fast pace. I went a slow fraction. No excuse.”
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Heir Kitty earned her first
stakes win and provided Gary Stevens, an Eclipse contender for
champion jockey, with his ninth Grade 1 victory in 2013
(Benoit Photo) |
Off as the fifth choice among six rivals, Heir Kitty paid $28.20 to win and
stopped the teletimer in 1:21 2/5 on the fast track.
Sweet Lulu, the 4-5 favorite, easily held second by 2 1/2 lengths.
Executiveprivilege closed belatedly for third, a head better than fourth-placer
My Happy Face. Journey On and Madame Cactus came next under the wire, and Miss
Lucky Sevens was withdrawn.
After capturing her career debut in July 2012, Heir Kitty posted a good
second versus males in the Grade 2 Best Pal at Del Mar. But she was unplaced in
her next three stakes attempts before recording a second in the Grade 3 Santa
Ysabel and a third in the Sweet Life earlier this year.
The daughter of Wildcat Heir snapped a seven-race losing streak in her
previous start, an optional claiming score over males at Hollywood Park on
November 29, and Heir Kitty has now earned $370,272 from a 14-4-3-1 career line.
“We gave up the experiment of trying to make her a distance horse, and it’s
worked out,” Miller said. “She’s very straightforward; she tries real hard.
She’s not a big filly. I’m really happy for the owners. The Grade I’s big.”
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Bred in Florida by Pedro Gonzalez and Jorge Herrera, Heir Kitty was purchased
for $32,000 at the 2012 OBS April two-year-old sale after RNA’ing for $19,000 as
a weanling at the 2010 OBS October sale. The bay lass is the first stakes winner
from the stakes-placed Silver Buck mare Be Silver and counts Grade 3 winner
Leave It Be as her third maternal dam.
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