'Applause' worthy performance in Rachel Alexandra

Avie's Sense took over pacesetting duties in the Rachel Alexandra as Summer

Applause bided her time in fourth down the backstretch through fractions of :24,

:47 2/5 and 1:12. Inny Minnie maintained a stalking trip just behind and to the

outside of Avie's Sense, while 3-2 favorite and Silverbulletday winner Believe

You Can tracked in fourth.

Albarado gave Summer Applause her cue, and the three-year-old miss took off

after the leaders. She rallied wide rounding the turn and ranged up to challenge

a stubborn Avie's Sense in the stretch. The pair dueled for a brief moment

before Summer Applause slowly inched away to grab command in the shadow of the

wire.

"I was a little nervous down the backside when that filly shook loose in 24

and change," Calhoun admitted. "For those kind of horses, that's pretty slow and

I expected some company in front for her. So us being little bit further back of

it with those kind of fractions I was a little nervous.

When asked if the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 31 would be next,

Calhoun replied, "We are going to enjoy the moment. We want to get the right

spacing for her. Obviously, the ultimate goal is the (Grade 1) Kentucky Oaks and

we want to figure out the best way to get her there.

"I really don't know where we go from here. I would like that spot, stay

right here and run in our own backyard. But we're going to look at all options

and see what the best spacing is to get her to the Kentucky Oaks. I still think

she's a little light; she's a slight filly. But it would be nice to run her out

of her stall and save more of her for later in the year.

"Our filly ran a great race. She's going the right direction. She's maturing

mentally and physically all the time, getting good at the right time, and I

think she's developed the kind of style that will keep her going. There's going

to be more speed in these races coming up and hopefully that will serve us

better down the line."

Avie's Sense was a game runner-up, 3 1/2 lengths in front of Inny Minnie, who

in turn held Believe You Can by 2 3/4 lengths on the line. Table Three Ten, the

second choice at 2-1, and Annaclone completed the order under the wire after

Applauding was an early scratch.

"She was maybe a little keen down the backside but she's supposed to be, you

know?" said James Graham, who piloted Avie's Sense. "She just got a little tired

down the lane. What can you do?"

In a funny twist, Josie Carroll is the trainer of Avie's Sense but also

conditioned Summer Applause when she began her career in Canada before being

transferred to Calhoun.

"She's a pretty inexperienced filly," Carroll said of Avie's Sense. "We tried

to get an allowance race to go after her maiden win and it didn't fill. That

maybe hurt her a little bit, but I know how good the other filly (Summer

Applause) is so I'm very happy. She's graded stakes-placed off of her maiden win

so we're happy with that."

As for rematch between the two in the Fair Grounds Oaks, Carroll is all for

it.

"I hope so. I think we'll move on from this and I think she deserves to. She

fought and she got a little tired."

Summer Applause ran sixth in her career debut at Woodbine before breaking her maiden by 2

1/4 lengths at the Toronto venue. Campaigned by Gillian Campbell, R Group

Management Ltd. and breeder Greenwood Lodge Farm, the bay filly closed out her

juvenile campaign by shipping to Fair Grounds for her first try against winners.

She easily passed that hurdle, but ran a one-paced second in the Silverbulletday

after being transferred to Calhoun.

Summer Applause improved her record to read 5-3-1-0 with this first stakes

win, and more than doubled her earnings to $202,906. The Kentucky-bred filly,

who was an $82,000 RNA at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale, counts as

her dam the unraced Royal Academy mare Summer Exhibition. That one is a

half-sister to Grade 2 winner Recoup the Cash, and this family has also produced

a trio of Canadian Horses of the Year in Canadiana, Victoria Park and Viceregal.