Citrus Springs hangs on to take Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies
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Citrus Springs came a long way to run in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, and the wire came just in time for her to win the $750,000 contest.
One more jump and onrushing Up Before the Dawn snatches victory away, but Citrus Springs had just enough in the tank to win by a head.
Elegante Miz finished third, 1 3/4 lengths behind the top pair and 1 3/4 lengths ahead of 7-5 favorite Conflict, who could not produce the form that smartly won her a Saratoga maiden turf debut over the European-style Kentucky Downs course.
European courses – obviously nothing new for Citrus Springs, whose first three races, all in Ireland, came at Listowel, Leopardstown, and Gowran Park. Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien enlisted Irish import Ben Curtis to ride, and Curtis, with plenty of help from his mount, worked out a perfect pressing trip that got Citrus Springs the money.
O’Brien debuted the filly in cheek pieces – or fuzzies − took them off for her second start, and Citrus Springs, wearing blinkers for the first time in her third outing, delivered a complete performance, going to the lead and winning a seven-furlong maiden race by five lengths while facing 15 fillies. That got the filly sold, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing purchasing her, and while Citrus Springs started racing in Ireland, she sold at a Florida auction earlier this year and, as a Kentucky-bred was eligible for $375,000 in supplemental purse money Monday.
Citrus Springs did not lead the Juvenile Fillies but sat second just off the pace of Elegante Miz, who carved out solid fractions and towed Citrus Springs well into the stretch. Citrus Springs took the lead in the final, but by then, Up Before the Dawn had hit high gear and came roaring home, her rally falling just short.
Citrus Springs, who will stay in America with a different trainer, is by first-crop sire Olympiad and out of California Spirit, by Tale of the Cat. She ran a mile (the temporary rail came down for Monday’s races) in 1:35.49 and as the second choice paid $23.65 for a $5 base win wager.
Laigina takes Lucky Lantern
Laigina ($46.35 per $5 win bet) launched a sustained mid-race rally that carried her to a convincing victory in the $250,000 Lucky Lantern, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies who hadn’t won a stakes race. Eleven of them still haven’t, but Laigina pocketed a stakes victory Monday coming home 1 1/4 lengths better than Snappy Comeback, who finished a half-length ahead of third-place Faye’s Gold.
Sapphire Beach, who would have been favored, was scratched after racing over the weekend at Kentucky Downs.
Keith Asmussen rode the winner for trainer Patrick Biancone, who co-owns the filly with Green with MV Stable. All seven of the filly’s turf tries had come in route races, and Laigina, a daughter of the turf sprinter Leinster – who won at Kentucky Downs – proved a superior one-run closer in a shorter race than she’d been as a pace-pressing two-turn filly. Asmussen stoked her up on the far outside between the three-furlong marker and the quarter pole, and Laigina sustained her bid to the finish.
Laigina, out of Patriotic Brother, by Brother Derek, was timed in 1:16.05 over the firm going.
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