Delaware: Gleaming connects at 6-1 in four-horse Sweet and Sassy

HoofprintsInc.com

Gleaming, riddene by Alex Cintron, pulls away from 4-5 favorite Bold Affair to collect her third stakes win of the season in the Sweet and Sassy.

Gleaming outran both of the logical favorites to upset Saturday’s $145,500 Sweet and Sassy Stakes at Delaware Park.

Ridden for the first time by Alex Cintron, the 5-year-old Gleaming ($14.60) stalked in third position in a field reduced to just four fillies and mares by the scratch of Afleet Lass. Bold Affair, the 4-5 favorite on the basis of her three straight stakes wins in Maryland, set the pace through a quarter-mile in 21.82 seconds and a half-mile in 44.43.

Winning Image, the 8-5 second choice coming off back-to-back stakes wins at Parx, put pressure on the leader turning for home, carrying a rallying Gleaming three-wide in the process.

Bold Affair still clung to a half-length lead at the eighth pole, with Winning Image a head in front of Gleaming. In deep stretch, Gleaming found her best stride and gradually pulled away to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths. Bold Affair edged Winning Image for second by a head. Coax Liberty, making her first start since October, completed the order of finish.

In winning for the ninth time in 18 starts, Gleaming covered the six furlongs in 1:09.20. It was her third stakes win of the season, following back-to-back scores in the Spring Fever and Carousel at Oaklawn Park.

Trained by Bret Calhoun for owners Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch, Gleaming has now earned $381,405.