Central Heat stays razor-sharp winning Luther Burbank

Central Heat continued her excellent form, winning for the seventh time in her last eight starts as she captured Sunday’s $61,505 Luther Burbank Handicap at Santa Rosa.

Owned by Dave Del Debbio, William Delia, and Dana Rocheford, and trained by Delia, the 5-year-old Central Heat ($4.20) stalked the pace as the even-money favorite in the 1 1/16-mile turf event for fillies and mares, eased out into the lane, and finished strongly under Russell Baze to win going away by 1 1/4 lengths. Meeting Waters rallied well from last to get second while Aguafria sat back and rallied to grab the lead in midstretch before weakening a bit to finish third in the field of six.

Central Heat ran the distance in 1:44.30. The winner’s share of $41,100 gives her earnings of $295,791 from 13 wins in 32 starts.