NEWS
Aurora Lights overcomes slow pace to win Sabin
Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:58 PM
AURORA LIGHTS
Coglianese Photos
To view the Sabin Stakes, click here.
by Myra Lewyn
Aurora Lights collared pacesetter and favorite Matchless Orinda inside the final furlong and pulled away for a clear win to complete a last-to-first rally in the $100,000 Sabin Stakes (G3) on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Matchless Orinda controlled the pace along the inside and set dawdling fractions of :24.63, :48.21, and 1:12.69 through six furlongs. Aurora Lights tracked from last, no more than 2¼ lengths back in the tightly bunched six-horse field, and then advanced to fourth.
Closely pressed by Amazing from the start, Matchless Orinda edged just clear of that opponent in early stretch while Aurora Lights eased outside leaving the turn. She willingly responded when roused by jockey Cornelio Velasquez, swiftly rallied to catch 1.30-to-1 favorite Matchless Orinda at the sixteenth pole, and spurted clear to win by 2¾ lengths.
Aurora Lights won the Selene Stakes (Can-G3) last year on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Woodbine. Lightly regarded in the wagering at 10.50-to-1 odds, she entered the Sabin off a troubled third-place finish on December 26 in her first start on dirt in the Stage Door Betty Handicap (G3), in which she steadied on the first turn.
“I think she can run on dirt as well as the synthetic,” trainer Eric Coatrieux said after the four-year-old Puplit filly, a three-quarter sister to multiple graded stakes winner Master Command, covered the Sabin’s one-mile distance in 1:37.79 on a track rated as fast.
Stage Door Betty runner-up Amazing finished third, a neck behind Matchless Orinda.
Velasquez, who rode Aurora Lights in the Stage Door Betty, said he was concerned about the slow tempo, which ultimately compromised the chances multiple graded stakes winner and 7-to-5 second wagering choice Justwhistledixie, who finished fourth.
“I thought there was more speed in the race, but it went slow and there was no pace so I stayed right there as best I could,” Velasquez said. “And she finished the last quarter very fast. I rode this filly last time [in the Stage Door Betty] and she was in trouble the first half of the race but finished good, so I knew what I could expect from her today.”
Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams, Aurora Lights is out of the winning Lord At War (Arg) mare Lady Lochnivar. She improved to three wins, two seconds, and one third-place finish in ten career starts for owner Chiefswood Stable
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
