Calder: Wildcat Lily takes Azalea by a neck

MIAMI - Wildcat Lily proved her easy victory in the Leave Me Alone Stakes four weeks earlier was no fluke, while at the same time avenging a tough defeat she sustained earlier in the meet, when outgaming Dreaming of Susie to register a well-deserved neck triumph in the $150,000 Azalea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Asmussen’s bid to sweep the two graded stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday’s Summit of Speed card ended when his 8-5 favorite Speedinthruthecity finished third.

Wildcat Lily won the Leave Me Alone, the major local prep for the Grade 3 Azalea, by four lengths on June 8. That performance followed a second-place finish behind Dreaming of Susie under entry-level allowance conditions 16 days earlier.

With jockey Jose Alvarez again aboard, Wildcat Lily stalked the pace of Dreaming of Susie from the outset of the six-furlong Azalea, poked her head in front in early stretch, then dug in bravely to maintain a slight advantage to the wire. Dreaming of Susie, whose connections opted to skip the Leave Me Alone to await the Azalea, broke alertly to control the early pace, fought on gamely once displaced on the lead but proved second best while finishing nearly three lengths in front of Speedinthruthecity.

Wildcat Lily’s final time of 1:10.76 was .21 faster than the boys covered the same distance in the Carry Back 30 minutes earlier. She paid $10.20.

“It was no surprise to me that she won again,” said trainer Manuel Azpurua. “I was thinking about all the horses coming down for the race but after all, I believed the second-place horse [Dreaming of Susie] was the one to beat. My filly is very nice and quiet, you can train her very easily, and she has improved every single time she’s run.”

Umphrey Turf Sprint: Silver Cloud rallies for head decision

Silver Cloud rallied from mid-pack to register a head decision over a fast-closing Tripski with 2-1 favorite Determinato just another neck further back in third in the $100,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint Handicap.

Silver Cloud paid $10.60 after covering five furlongs over a “good” turf course in 56.08 under jockey Fernando Jara. Silver Cloud had finished fourth, behind both Tripski and Determinato, in this race a year ago.

Silver Cloud is owned and trained by Jason DaCosta.

Hollywood Wildcat: Sweet Little Lion wins hard-fought race

Sweet Little Lion held gamely to a narrow advantage through the stretch in the face of a number of challengers to prevail by a neck in the $100,000 Hollywood Wildcat Stakes. Miss Montreal finished second, another nose in front of Ann of the Dance in a an evenly matched and well bunched field that saw the first- and last-place finishers separated by less than five lengths.

Sweet Little Lion was ridden to victory by Jesus Rios for trainer Greg Griffith and paid $34.