NEWS
Blind Luck dominant in Hollywood Starlet
Posted: Sunday, December 20, 2009 7:52 PM
BLIND LUCK
Benoit & Associates photo
To view the Hollywood Starlet Stakes, click here.
by Steve Bailey
Blind Luck showed an electrifying turn of foot in the stretch as she blitzed six challengers to win the $405,250 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) by seven lengths on Sunday, closing day at Hollywood Park.
The two-year-old Pollard’s Vision filly was held in check until reaching the turn. At the top of the lane, jockey Rafael Bejarano asked Blind Luck for another gear and she dug in powerfully down the center of the track, extending her lead with every long, fluid stride.
The victory was the second Grade 1 triumph for Blind Luck, who won the Oak Leaf Stakes (G1) on October 4 at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park. She entered the 1 1/16-mile Hollywood Starlet off a third-place finish in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
“I didn’t know she had that gear,” Hollendorfer said with a grin following the race. “But I was very pleased to see that turn of foot when Rafael asked her.
“It’s a great way to end up before the Christmas holidays, and we have something to look forward to next year.”
Rose Catherine, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 6, hustled to the front and took the field through a quarter-mile in :23.26 and a half-mile in :46.43 while Blind Luck was content to trail the field.
Moving forward in the turn under Bejarano, Blind Luck angled to the outside to find running room and, when she hit the top of the lane, took off like a rocket, leaving the field in her wake. Blind Luck covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.96 on the synthetic Cushion Track surface.
"Wow! I worked her the last four times and she's been unbelievable in the morning,” Bejarano said. “She's been relaxing so well in her works and has been showing a big turn of foot. She did the same thing today.
“I think she's going to be a real good filly. I had so much horse I wanted to wait as long as I could. When I asked her a little, she showed me a big turn of foot."
Miss Heather Lee, trained by Bob Baffert, finished second, three-quarters of a length in front of Amen Hallelujah.
Owned by Mark DeDomenico, John Carver, and Hollendorfer, Blind Luck won for the fourth time from six career starts and boosted her earnings to $709,050. She is the first starter out of the winning Best of Luck mare Lucky One, who is a half sister to Grade 3 winner Ethan Man.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times
