NEWS
Laragh back to main track for Hollywood Starlet
Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 6:21 PM
LARAGH
Photo by Z, courtesy of Keeneland
by Tim Nichols
Following three straight races on grass, highly regarded two-year-old filly Laragh will make her first start on the main track since August in the $429,500 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The third-place finisher of the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on October 24 at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park will face six two-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile race on the synthetic Cushion Track surface.
The Tapit filly has won on a synthetic surface before, prevailing in a maiden special weight race on Woodbine’s Polytrack surface on August 9.
Following a fifth-place finish in the Natalma Stakes (Can-G3) on September 4 on the turf at Woodbine, Laragh was shipped to trainer John Terranova’s barn and won the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland Race Course on October 9 in front-running fashion. Laragh led until in the final strides of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and finished third, one length behind winner Maram.
“I thought she ran fantastic,” Terranova said. “She did all the dirty work and just came up a length short. She doesn’t need to be on the lead, but if she happens to be on the lead, so be it. She’s never been rank.”
Dave’s Revenge, by The Cliff’s Edge, has defied expectations since winning her debut on August 31 at Del Mar at odds of 37.40-to-1, the highest in the ten-horse field.
In her next start, she finished fourth at 64.10-to-1 odds, again the longest shot in the field, in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on October 24 for trainer Bob Hess and owner David Rippey
“She was beaten by three lengths in the Breeders’ Cup and was an inch away from being Grade 1 stakes-placed,” Hess said. “She ran a fantastic race. She’s a very good filly.”
Darley Stable’s Pamona Ball enters off a one-length win in the Sharp Cat Stakes on November 1 at Hollywood Park.
Trainer Bob Baffert entered maiden winners Wynning Ride and Toro Bonito. Alpha Kitten enters off a second-place finish in the Anoakia Stakes on October 19 at the Oak Tree meet.
Tim Nichols is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY assistant editor
The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:
1. Toro Bonito (El Corredor), David Romero Flores, 120, Bob Baffert;
2. Laragh (Tapit), Edgar S. Prado, 120, John P. Terranova, II;
3. Alpha Kitten (Tale of the Cat), Mike E. Smith, 120, John W. Sadler;
4. Wynning Ride (Candy Ride [ARG]), Joseph Talamo, 120, Bob Baffert;
5. Dave's Revenge (The Cliff's Edge), Kent J. Desormeaux, 120, Robert B. Hess, Jr.;
6. Pamona Ball (Pleasantly Perfect), Rafael Bejarano, 120, Eoin G. Harty; and
7. Black Magic Mama (Black Mambo), Corey S. Nakatani, 120, Doug F. O'Neill.
