With the Angels uses different tactics to take Key Cents Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - New tactics, same result for With the Angels.

After dominating her competition on the front end in her three previous races, With the Angels found herself coming from off the pace Sunday and did so successfully, rallying from four lengths off the pace under Jose Ortiz to win the $100,000 Key Cents Stakes for New York-bred fillies by two lengths and completing a perfect 4 for 4 campaign.

“She passed the test,” winning trainer Linda Rice said. “I told Jose I don’t want you to ride this filly overconfidently because I felt like today’s race there was a lot more ability than she’s faced in the past. Her other races happened to be light. I thought today’s race had some legitimate nice New York-bred fillies in there … but she got it done.”

Two of those previous wins came in stakes - the Joseph A. Gimma and the Maid of the Mist.

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Before entries were taken for the Key Cents, Rice said she wanted to experiment with rating With the Angels, who had won her three previous starts by a combined 24 1/2 lengths. When With the Angels drew the rail, that muddled those plans a little. Rice said she went to the jockeys’ room earlier in the day and told Ortiz the tactics were up to him.

“I decided I had to leave it up to him, if she outjumps them what are you going to do? You can go with that,” Rice said. “But I suspect they’re going to go hard after you, they’re going to be going hard from the gates. There’s a lot of speed in the race. These are fast horses, this is probably going to be the opportunity to sit off them.”

With the Angels broke a step to the right and D’s a Rock, Bellacose and Stone Smuggler all were sent by their riders toward the lead.

Ortiz had With the Angels behind that trip and inside of Bam’s Bliss Kiss. After an opening quarter of 22.21 seconds, Bellacose began to retreat, forcing Ortiz to steady slightly and begin to work With the Angels to the outside.

Turning for home, D’s a Rock had a short lead while being chased by Stone Smuggler and Bam’s Bliss Kiss.

At that point, Ortiz had guided With the Angels five wide and into the clear. Inside the sixteenth pole, after Stone Smuggler took over from D’s a Rock, With the Angels got to the lead and edged clear for the victory.

“We knew going into the race there was potentially a lot of speed, so going from the one hole if we don’t break like a shot we’re going to have to go to that [rating] plan, which we thought about,” Ortiz said. “Either you rate or either you go. I didn’t feel like I broke that sharp, so I went to Plan B. I sat there very nice, I put her to the outside and she gave me a great run.”

With the Angels, a daughter of Omaha Beach owned by Winning Move Stable, John Oxley, Sheila Rosenblum, Tom Harblin’s Rideau Racers and Sanford Robbins, completed the six furlongs in 1:10.56 and returned $2.70 as the favorite.

Nina Kay, also trained by Rice, rallied for second by a half-length over Stone Smuggler, who was a half-length better than Bam’s Bliss Kiss. D’s a Rock, Valtellina, Bellacose and Phoebeinwonderland completed the order of finish.

Rice said With the Angels would get a 60-day break on a farm in Ocala, Fla., and return to New York around Feb. 1 to begin preparing for a 3-year-old campaign that will likely be in one-turn races.

“Today she was running at the end of it like she almost needed a little more ground to get there, I was concerned, so I would say we’d probably keep her one-turn, six [furlongs]-to-a-mile this coming season, unless we start to see other things.”

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