Battle Girl much the best in Panthers Stakes

Battle Girl broke from the rail, went to the front, and increased her advantage, winning the $65,000 Panthers Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 5 1/2 lengths on Thursday night at Prairie Meadows.

Under Albin Jimenez, Battle Girl set splits of 24.09 seconds, 47.39, and 1:12.16 on the way to running a mile on a fast track in 1:38.19. She paid $10.20 to win and evidently ran all the chasers off their feet, with late-running Bonita Cat up for second at 16-1 and For All the Grands another 7 1/2 lengths back in third at odds of nearly 60-1. The exacta, with a 4-1 shot over a 16-1, paid a paltry $48.60.

Adore, the Steve Asmussen-trained filly dropping in class from Grade 3 and Grade 2 races, bobbled at the start, pressed the pace, but came up empty in the stretch, finishing fourth as the 3-5 favorite.

Battle Girl, trained for WinStar Farm by Kellyn Gorder, won her third straight race, all routes, after losing a pair of sprints to start her career. The filly, bred by Brent and Beth Harris, is by Midshipman and out of the Mt. Livermore mare Livermore Leslie.