NEWS
Proud Heiress edges Tribal Belle in Whimsical
Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 8:11 PM
PROUD HEIRESS (outside) DEFEATS TRIBAL BELLE AT WOODBINE
Michael Burns/WEG photo
To view a video replay of the Whimsical Stakes, click here.
by Patrick Reed
Stakes winner Proud Heiress rallied at the top of the stretch and battled gamely with both Silver Z and Tribal Belle in the final strides for a nose win in the $151,785 Whimsical Stakes (Can-G3) at Woodbine on Sunday.
The last-to-first victory marked the first graded stakes win for the six-year-old Broken Vow mare and also ended a four-race winning streak at Woodbine for 2009 Canadian champion female sprinter Tribal Belle, who was second by a nose.
Ridden by Chantal Sutherland, Proud Heiress settled well behind a swift pace set by 2009 Whimsical Stakes winner Dancing Allstar with stakes winner Silver Z pressing from second. The front-runners led the field of seven older fillies and mares through a swift half-mile in :44.84, and midway through the turn, Silver Z advanced to overtake fading Dancing Allstar and drove clear in early stretch.
Tribal Belle and Grade 3 winner Glitter Rox also were mounting their rallies, however, and both reached contention with a furlong remaining as Sutherland moved Proud Heiress seven wide to set up a clear path for her closing kick.
Silver Z stayed on well, but Tribal Belle and Proud Heiress surged past her on the outside to reach the finish line together in a thrilling battle. Proud Heiress covered six furlongs in 1:09.71 on Woodbine’s synthetic Polytrack surface.
Tribal Belle settled for second, a half-length in front of Silver Z.
Proud Heiress, a synthetic sprint specialist trained by Wayne Mogge, put together a consistent string of quality performances since taking the 2009 Wishing Well Stakes at Turfway Park, finishing either second or third in four of six subsequent races—all stakes—and scoring a repeat win in the Wishing Well on January 9. She entered the Whimsical off of a close second-place finish in the Queen Stakes on March 27 at Turfway.
With her first graded stakes win on Sunday, Proud Heiress improved her career record to five wins in 17 starts and earnings of $275,287. Bred in Kentucky by Respite Farm, Proud Heiress is out of the winning Dr. Carter mare Raise a Carter and is a half-sister to Japanese stakes winner Red Chili Pepper.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Patrick Reed is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
