NEWS
Dade Babe goes gate to wire in Pucker Up
Posted: Monday, September 06, 2010 8:02 AM
DADE BABE
Four Footed Fotos
To view the Pucker Up Stakes, click here.
by Patrick Reed
Lawrence Peifer’s Dade Babe made her first stakes appearance a winning one on Monday at Arlington Park with a front-running score in the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes (G3) under Florent Geroux.
The three-year-old Cimarron Secret filly took a commanding lead heading into the first turn of the 1 1/8 mile turf race and extended her cushion to 12 lengths through the backstretch while setting easy fractions of :24.81 and :49.72.
Hatoof Stakes winner Silent Candy and 2-to-1 favorite La Cloche both lodged mild challenges in early stretch but Dade Babe rebroke in the final yards to win comfortably, besting La Cloche by 3 ¾ lengths. Final time for the distance was 1:51.77 over turf rated as good.
“It was my plan to open up a couple of lengths but I didn’t think I’d be that far out in front,” Geroux said. “My filly was going fast but she was real relaxed. She took a breather when I wanted her to and she ran well in the straight. She was just much the best today.”
La Cloche took second late by 1 ¼ lengths over Silent Candy, with Dundalk Dust another two lengths back in fourth. Virginia Oaks (G2) runner-up and French stakes winner Kilmore Quay (Ire) finished last in the nine-horse field.
Since making her first start for trainer Danny Miller in June, Dade Babe has won three of four starts, all in front-running fashion.
With her breakthrough stakes victory on Monday, she improved her overall career record to five wins from 11 starts with earnings of $122,440. Bred in Florida by Francis McDonnell, Dade Babe is out of the Sheikh Albadou (GB) mare Zooming.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Patrick Reed is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
