Cher Ami gets the distance in Runaway Marcie

Cher Ami showed that she could carry her speed around two turns when registering a wire-to-wire seven-length decision over Pretoria Light in the $50,000 Runaway Marcie Stakes at Calder. Suaveness finished a distant third.

The one-mile Runaway Marcie marked the first time Cher Ami has won beyond 6 1/2 furlongs - and it was the fourth victory in the last five starts for the 3-year-old daughter of Lost Soldier, who is trained by Larry Bates for the Wirth Brothers. Cher Ami's only loss during that streak came in the Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup over a sloppy track here early this summer.

Cher Ami was again ridden to victory by Ariel Smith. She returned $4 as the heavy favorite in a scratch-reduced field of seven 3-year-old fillies. Final time for the distance was 1:39.43 over a fast track.