Dancing Edie uncatchable

Both Live Life and Dancing Edie looked to be the controlling speed in the , but when Live Life walked out of the gate, Dancing Edie found herself alone on the lead. Her jockey, Corey Nakatani, nursed her through soft fractions, and then gave her an aggressive ride in the stretch to hold off a horde of challengers and win the Grade 1, $400,000 grass race for older fillies and mares.

In a blanket finish that saw the first four runners separated by a half-length, Dancing Edie beat Moscow Burning by a nose, with Island Fashion a neck farther back in third and Amorama another head back in fourth. Memorette, Live Life, and Katdogawn completed the order of finish.

Dancing Edie ($10) also had to survive a stewards' inquiry into the stretch run. She and Island Fashion bumped late in the stretch, but it appeared that the worst of the contact happened at or just beyond the finish.

Dancing Edie got away with fractions of 24.57 seconds for the opening quarter, 49.14 for a half-mile, and 1:13.34 for six furlongs. That left her fresh for a torrid stretch run. Dancing Edie flew through the fourth quarter of the race in 23.41 seconds, and the final furlong in 11.51 seconds, to complete 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:48.26.

"This filly is a fighter," said Craig Dollase, who trains Dancing Edie for a partnership that includes Paul Reddam, in whose silks the filly races. "She was headed at the top of the lane, but she fought back between horses. It was a very gutty win for her."

Dancing Edie, a 4-year-old daughter of Moscow Ballet, has now won 3 of 14 starts. She earned $240,000 to bring her career bankroll to $533,580.