Artie's Princess rallies to victory in Presque Isle Masters
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Assisted by a canny ride from Jose Ortiz, Artie's Princess came back to her best form for a track-record victory in the Grade 2, $400,000 Presque Isle Downs Masters on Monday evening.
Artie's Princess typically races on the lead, but on Monday Ortiz had her in seventh after the opening half-mile of the 6 1/2-furlong race. Favored Caravel, meanwhile, stuck to her usual style, taking the lead under Luis Saez and ticking off opening splits of 21.97 seconds for the quarter and 44.54 for the half. Caravel began to separate herself from the field nearing the top of the stretch and took a length lead into the upper stretch. But Artie's Princess, rallying four wide in the clear, struck the front in the final stages and drove to a 1 1/2-length win.
The final time was 1:14.57 for the 6 1/2 furlongs, bettering the previous track mark of 1:14.68 established by Ami's Mesa winning the 2017 Masters. Artie’s Princess, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., paid $8.20.
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Longshot Cafe Society rallied up the rail to be second, 2 1/4 lengths clear of Allworthy in third. Allworthy edged Caravel by a half-length and Caravel faded back to fourth. Third choice Change of Control was never a factor and finished ninth of 11 in her first start on a synthetic track.
Artie's Princess, a homebred for the racing operation of Ken Ramsey and his late wife, Sarah Ramsey, showed that she was a classy synthetic sprint runner by taking the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes and Ruling Angel Stakes in 2020 at Woodbine, victories that earned her the Sovereign Award as Canada's champ. She finished off the board in her only start in 2021.
The We Miss Artie mare returned to action this May for a new trainer in Joseph, and finished fourth in the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes before winning the Ballade Stakes at Woodbine. She was most recently fifth in the Grade 3 Hendrie in July.
* Earlier on the card, Surly Furious ($9.80) stalked and pounced for a 1 3/4-length victory under Saez in the $200,000 Presque Isle Mile. Favored Carpenters Call set the pace before fading in deep stretch to finish sixth.
Surly Furious, an Upstart gelding trained by Glenn Wismer for Novogratz Racing, has won four of six starts this season, with all four of those wins coming at Presque Isle. He also won the Karl Boyes Stakes at the track in July.
* Favored Nice Ace ($4.60) was an easy winner of the $75,000 Dobbins Landing Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs, while Christmas Diamond ($43.40) rallied for an upset win by a head in the $75,000 Gem City Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles.