NEWS
Blind Luck wins head bob in Las Virgenes thriller
Posted: Saturday, February 13, 2010 7:30 PM
BLIND LUCK (outside)
Benoit & Associates photo
To view the Las Virgenes Stakes, click here.
by Myra Lewyn
Blind Luck, a standout as a two-year-old last season, gave a game performance in her highly anticipated season debut on Saturday as she thrust her nose in front of Evening Jewel in the final stride to win a three-way battle for the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
A finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old filly of 2009, Blind Luck was last at the top of the stretch in the one-mile race on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface, but jockey Rafael Bejarano brought her from off the pace with a hard-charging rally from the center of the track and perfectly timed her winning move.
Blind Luck steadily wore down third-place finisher Switch, who set slow early fractions, and Evening Jewel with a sustained bid to earn her third Grade 1 victory and fifth victory in seven career starts.
Evening Jewel overtook Switch in deep stretch and outfinished that opponent by a half-length for second in the five-horse field.
A three-year-old Pollard’s Vision filly, Blind Luck finished the trip in 1:35.98.
“I think she showed herself a pretty good filly today,” said veteran trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer, who had some anxious moments before the race was made official.
“I’ve watched a lot of photos,” he said. “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.”
Bejarano was more confident.
“As soon as we crossed the wire, I knew we had won it,” he said.
With the victory, accomplished as the overwhelming 1-to-5 favorite, Blind Luck cemented her credentials as the early favorite for the $250,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G1) on March 6. She also is nominated to the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 3 and the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) on May 1.
Sandwiched between convincing wins last season in the Oak Leaf (G1) and Hollywood Starlet (G1) Stakes, Blink Luck finished third after a troubled trip as the 3.70-to-1 favorite behind eventual champion She Be Wild in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Her sophomore debut was held up a week when the Las Virgenes, originally slated for February 6, was canceled because of drainage issues with the track and rescheduled for Saturday. The delay served only to build on the excitement of her 2010 bow and she did not disappoint.
Mark DeDominico of Bellevue, Washington, and John Carver of Rapid City, Iowa, co-own Blink Luck. Along with Hollendorfer, they acquired the chestnut filly, who is out of the Best of Luck mare Lucky One, privately from owner Juvenal Diaz following her 13¼-length maiden victory on January 21 last year at Calder Race Course.
Switch unseated jockey Tyler Baze just after the finish line, but he walked off the track and competed in the next race.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
