Evvie Jets, trainer Kantarmaci notch stakes firsts in Noble Damsel
Evvie Jets and trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci both notched defining wins Saturday when Evvie Jets darted to a 1 1/4-length victory over Plum Ali in the Grade 3, $150,000 Noble Damsel at Belmont at Aqueduct.
It was the first stakes win for Evvie Jets and the first stakes victory in the United States for Kantarmaci.
The Noble Damsel was a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares. Messidor, who was favored, finished third, a nose behind Plum Ali.
Evvie Jets ($9.90) tracked the pace in second Saturday as Por Que No took the field through fractions of 23.98 seconds for the opening quarter, 48.60 for the half-mile and 1:11.96 for six furlongs. Evvie Jets pushed past that one coming to the eighth pole, and went on to cover the distance on firm ground in 1:35.65.
Eric Cancel was aboard the winner, a daughter of Twirling Candy who races for Robert Amendola.
“She sat really beautiful behind the pacemaker and once she was ready to roll, I went with her,” Cancel told the New York Racing Association.
“She’s a very tactical filly. She can be on the lead and she can come from right off the pace. She’s been improving every race and I’m very happy that I got the win with her and happy for the Kantarmacis.”
Kantarmaci won his first race in the United States on March 13, 2016 at Parx Racing, according to records from Daily Racing Form. Evvie Jets was the ninth stateside stakes start for Kantarmaci. She came into the race off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Athenia in September at Belmont at Aqueduct.
“We’ve won a lot of stakes races overseas, but in America it’s the first one,” assistant trainer Ilkay Kantarmaci told NYRA. “I hope many more to come.”
Evvie Jets has now won 4 of 16 starts for earnings of $364,530.
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