2/13/2010 Las Virgenes S.(G1) Blind Luck

 

 

SANTA ANITA PARK, Saturday February 13, 2010 - Race 4

Las Virgenes S. - Grade: 1

Purse: $250,000

Distance/Restrictions: 1M, Dirt, F, 3 Year Olds, STAKES

Winning Time:1:35.98

Pgm	Horse	Jockey	Win	Place	Show
1	Blind Luck	Rafael Bejarano	2.40	2.10	2.10
2	Evening Jewel	Victor Espinoza		5.60	3.00
4	Switch	Tyler Baze			2.40

Times in 100ths: :24.31 :48.41 1:12.59 1:24.06 1:35.98 Unplaced horses listed in order of finish. Also ran: Crisp and Summer Games Scratched: La Nez Winning Breeder: Fairlawn Farm Winning Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer Winning Owner: Mark DeDomenico LLC, Carver, John and Hollendorfer Wager Type Winning Numbers Payoff $2 Daily Double 6-1 $4.80 $1 Exacta 1-2 $7.50 $1 Superfecta 1-2-4-3 $24.90 $1 Trifecta 1-2-4 $20.30 $1 Pick 3 2-6-1 $6.50 $1 Pick 4 6-2-6-1/5 $72.00

Race Comments: BLIND LUCK settled inside then a bit off the rail, came out on the second turn and three wide into the stretch and closed willingly under left handed urging to get up on the wire. EVENING JEWEL close up stalking the pace inside then a bit off the rail, came out into the stretch, bid alongside the pacesetter in deep stretch, put a head in front nearing the wire and continued gamely between foes. SWITCH pulled between horses to the early lead, angled in and set the pace inside, inched away again in the stretch and held on gamely but was caught nearing the line, then lost the rider approaching the pole following the wire. CRISP pulled a bit early, chased outside a rival then off the rail, came out a bit off heels on the backstretch and again into the second turn, angled three deep into the stretch, drifted in some past midstretch and lacked the needed late kick. SUMMER GAMES four wide early, angled in and stalked off the rail, found the inside into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong.

http://www.ntra.com/races.aspx?id=43906&section=races

BLIND LUCK 암 2007 USA 밤색 전적:7(5/1/1)  G1	Pollard's Vision 폴라즈비전 흑 2001 USA  G2 23전(6,7,3) 1,430,311 USD 93 f, 4sw 2.70	Carson City 카슨시티 밤 1987 USA [B] G2 1025 f, 98sw 2.04	Mr. Prospector 갈 1970 USA *+{BC} LSB
			Blushing Promise 갈 1982 USA  Unr
		Etats Unis 흑 1995 USA  Unr 7 f, 1 w, 1 sw	Dixieland Band 갈 1980 USA *[I 1500] LS
			Hometown Queen 갈 1984 USA  SW
	Lucky One 갈 2002 USA  전(0,0,0) 0 1 f, 1 w, 1 sw	Best Of Luck 갈 1996 USA {1800} G2 149 f, 4sw 0.62	Broad Brush 갈 1983 USA *{IC} LS
			Crowned 밤 1987 USA  G3
		Twilight Spectre 1992 USA  unpl 7 f, 1 w, 1 sw	Imp Society 밤 1981 USA {1644} G2
			Shall Return 1970 USA

Pedigree by http://www.exhorse.co.kr/

Blind Luck Wins Las Virgenes by a Whisker
By Jack Shinar
Updated: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 2:14 PM
Posted: Saturday, February 13, 2010 5:22 PM
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/55372/blind-luck-wins-las-virgenes-by-a-whisker?source=rss

Last at the top of the stretch, heavily-favored Blind Luck charged down the middle of the track to capture the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) by a nose over an unlucky Evening Jewel at Santa Anita Feb. 13 (VIDEO) .

Blind Luck, runner-up for Eclipse honors as the outstanding juvenile filly in the nation last year, kicked off her 2010 season with her third grade I win in the one-mile Las Virgenes, getting up in the final jump for jockey Rafael Bejarano. Jerry Hollendorfer trains the daughter of Pollard's Vision  , who was sent off at odds of 1-5.

Evening Jewel, ridden by Victor Espinoza, had edged past Switch in the final strides but settled for second money. Switch, who dumped jockey Tyler Baze just past the finish line, wound up a close third. The final time was 1:35.98 over the Pro-Ride racing surface.

The Las Virgenes, a major prep for the Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I) March 6, was originally scheduled for Feb. 6 but had to be rescheduled when that program was canceled due to heavy rains and related drainage problems with the synthetic track.

Blind Luck is owned in partnership by Mark DeDomenico, John Carver, and Hollendorfer, who bought the chestnut filly privately after she romped to victory by 13 1/4 lengths in her debut at Calder over a $40,000 maiden claiming field last June.

She has raced exclusively on synthetic tracks since, winning Oak Tree's Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita prior to finishing a troubled third in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I). Blind Luck returned to romp by seven with a dazzling late move in the 1 1/16-mile Hollywood Starlet (gr. I) in her final start of the year Dec. 20.

Just five 3-year-old fillies contested the Las Virgenes after the scratch of La Nez, who developed a slight cough and had an elevated white cell blood count, according to trainer Eric Kruljac.

Breaking from the rail, Blind Luck was unhurried as second choice Switch went to the front for Baze and showed the way through even quarter-mile splits of :24.31, :48.41, and 1:12.59. Outsider Summer Games tracked second, with Evening Jewel and Crisp stalking in third and fourth. Blind Luck had fallen off the lead by about seven lengths at the mid-point of the race. She was still last and racing three wide coming to the homestretch as Evening Jewel and Crisp turned up the pressure on Switch.

The grade III winner Crisp did not go on with it, but Evening Jewel, on the outside of Switch for Espinoza, dug down to get a head in front of Switch in deep stretch. Blind Luck, under left-handed urging from Bejarano, had four lengths to make up in the final furlong and didn't get her nose in front until reaching the wire in a sizzling finish. Switch finished a half-length behind Evening Jewel in third.

“When we came into the stretch I could see (Crisp) stopping and so we had to go outside of her," Bejarano said. "There wasn’t much speed, so it was hard to come from off the pace. She’s got a big turn of foot though, and as soon as we crossed the wire, I knew we had won it.”

Hollendorfer said he was concerned about the cutback in distance for Blind Luck and the small field.

"There were just a few horses in the race, and that’s always a concern," he said. "I think the speed sets up better when there are more horses. I think she showed herself (to be) a pretty good filly today.

“I’ve watched a lot of photos. The second time I thought we won. The first time I wasn’t sure, but second time, I thought we won, and I’m glad we did."

Past the wire, Switch stumbled and dumped Baze, who walked off the track under his own power and did not miss his mount in the next race. Switch, who ran off, was brought back without incident.

Never out of the money in seven starts, Blind Luck earned $150,000 for her fifth lifetime win, boosting her bankroll to $859,050. Hollendorfer said afterward that the filly would target the Santa Anita Oaks next.

Fairlawn Farm bred the winner, who was an $11,000 yearling purchase at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select sale. Blind Luck is out of Lucky One, by Best of Luck.

Blind Luck paid $2.40, $2.10, and $2.10 and topped a $15 exacta with Evening Jewel, who returned $5.60 and $3 The California-bred Evening Jewel, trained by James Cassidy, won the California Breeders' Championship filly division at Santa Anita Dec. 27 and was coming off a runner-up finish behind Crisp in the Santa Ysabel  Stakes (gr. III). Switch was $2.40 to show in her two-turn debut for trainer John Sadler.

“That’s as tough as it gets,” Cassidy said of Evening Jewel's tough-luck loss.

Crisp and Summer Games trailed.

2010 Las Virgenes S.(G1) Blind Luck.pdf