NEWS
Killer Graces holds off Charm the Maker in Hollywood Starlet
Posted: Saturday, December 10, 2011 8:00 PM
KILLER GRACES
Benoit & Associates photo
For video of the Hollywood Starlet S., click here.
by Mike Curry
Killer Graces surged to the front in the stretch under Joe Talamo and held off a game finishing drive from runner-up Charm the Maker to secure her first graded stakes win in the $402,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, the chestnut Congaree filly stalked the pace from fourth while saving ground and launched her winning bid entering the stretch. Killer Graces powered past pacesetter Lady Pecan and Charm the Maker to prevail by a half-length in the 1 1/16-mile race for two-year-old fillies.
“She really likes this track,” Talamo said of Killer Graces, the first Grade 1 winner for New York-based sire Congaree. “She's just getting better and better and you can do anything with her.”
Killer Graces completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.09 on the synthetic Cushion Track surface to improve to three wins and three seconds from eight starts this season, including three wins and two seconds in five races at Hollywood.
Killer Graces won a pair of stakes at Hollywood this summer and entered off a runner-up finish to Charm the Maker in the Sharp Cat Stakes at Hollywood on November 13. She turned the tables on her familiar foe to win the Starlet.
"I think she kind of likes Hollywood Park. She's done very well here,” said Hollendorfer, who is part of the partnership that owns Killer Graces. “Now, we have to get her to carry it over to another track.
“I don't have anything in mind for her; we were kind of shooting for this race. I haven't really thought about anything else yet. There will be plenty of races to look at.”
Pacesetter Lady Pecan held on for third in the 1 1/16-mile race for two-year-old fillies. Multiple Grade 1 winner Weemissfrankie stumbled at the start under Rafael Bejarano and never made a serious bid after dropping well off the pace, settling for fourth in the six-horse field.
"She was standing so good in the gate, but for some reason she broke really, really bad,” Bejarado said. “I was surprised because she never did that before. All I could do from there was to try to stay on the rail. She tried to get out really bad on the first turn. It was just too much for her to do.”
Killer Graces was bred in Kentucky by Brian Kahn out of the winning Old Trieste mare Heatherdoesntbluff.
“Last time [in the Sharp Cat], she was in front and really ran a winning race,” Talamo said. “Today, she sat back and I really thought on the turn I was going to win, but I knew Weemissfrankie would be coming. I'm glad she didn't.”
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
