Daisy wins Tempted Stakes to improve to 2 for 2

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer John Servis and owner Rick Porter scored their first graded stakes win together since 2006 on opening day of the Aqueduct meet Friday, when Daisy posted a mild upset in the Grade 3 Tempted.

Porter and Servis have had great success together over the years but also have split up several times. Daisy's win is actually Round 4 for the owner and trainer.

Porter, whose horses are split among a number of trainers, has campaigned Songbird the past three seasons. Servis has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Smarty Jones and the 2016 Kentucky Oaks with Cathryn Sophia.

"Rick called me up near the end of last year, and we had a long talk," Servis said. "He said he had bought a Pennsylvania-bred yearling and that he would send her to me. She's the only horse we have for him in the barn."

Porter bought Daisy for $80,000 at the Fasig-Tipton select yearling sale in Saratoga. She won her debut at Parx by eight lengths and is now 2 for 2.

The Tempted is the first graded stakes win Servis and Porter have had together since Round Pond won the Grade 3 Azeri at Oaklawn Park in 2006. Other graded stakes winners they have campaigned together include Rockport Harbor, Zonk, and Jostle.

Daisy paid $7 in the $150,000 Tempted, a one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies. She was timed in 1:37.13.

"She's a really laid-back filly with a great mind," Servis said. "It seems like she wants more ground, the farther the better."

Daisy was sent from the gate by jockey Kendrick Carmouche, who kept her well removed from the inner rail because he thought the inner part of the track was deeper than the outer paths. Daisy set the early pace on a short lead inside Oldfashioned Style, was headed by that runner in upper stretch, but came on again to pull away by 4 3/4 lengths.

"She's really nice," Carmouche said. "She broke sharp, and I just sent her away from there a little to get position. She sucked back a little at the quarter pole, looking around, but then finished strong."

Sweet Candy Dance finished third, 5 1/2 lengths behind Oldfashioned Style. It was another two lengths back to 2-5 favorite Navajo.

Navajo raced in early contention outside horses but lacked a rally when asked.