Charles Town: Dance to Bristol dazzling in Sugar Maple

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - In a dominating performance that may have been a career best, Dance to Bristol romped to a nine-length victory in Saturday night’s $200,000 Sugar Maple Stakes at Charles Town.

Holiday Soiree finished second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Bayonne. Kalambaka Queen, Katie Get Excited, and Dangerous Vixen completed the order of finish.

The complexion of the Sugar Maple changed when Book Review, the even-money morning-line favorite, was scratched after getting a temperature upon her arrival from Southern California.

It was the sixth victory from 14 career starts for Dance to Bristol, a 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown trained by Ollie Figgins III, but by far her most dominant.

“She was better than ever,” winning rider Xavier Perez said. “Ollie’s been working hard with her. She’s been working well in the morning. When I got on her in the paddock I knew she was a different horse tonight than the time before. She let me know as soon as we hit the track. She was bouncing.”

Though speed had been dominant throughout most of the night at Charles Town, Perez let Dance to Bristol sit third, three wide around the first turn.

Perez kept Dance to Bristol within two lengths of pacesetting Dangerous Vixen and he followed Kendrick Carmouche when he moved on his filly, the co-favorite Holiday Soiree.

In a flash, Dance to Bristol blew past Holiday Soiree and was the easiest kind of winner. She covered seven furlongs in 1:23.78 and returned $4.60.

“We sat off the pace comfortable. When we got to the three-eighths pole, when my trainer told me to let her go, I just let roll and she did an amazing job,” Perez said. “She just ran off like she was running by herself.”

Noting the speed-favoring nature of Charles Town, Figgins did ask Perez to keep Dance to Bristol relatively close to the pace.

“That’s why we kind of pushed it,” Figgins said. “Usually, we let her break and get comfortable. We told him to get as close as we could without absolutely flat-out asking her.”

Asked if that was Dance to Bristol’s best race, Figgins said, “Might be.”

Figgins said he would point Dance to Bristol to the $100,000 Skipat Stakes at Pimlico on May 17.