Firenze Flavor has biggest nose at Honeymoon wire

ARCADIA, Calif. - Firenze Flavor surprised trainer Paddy Gallagher with her narrow win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

Firenze Flavor ($17.40) hit the wire nearly simultaneously with 5-1 Miso Phansy and pacesetter, and 6-5 favorite Jungle Peace. Firenze Flavor won by a nose over Miso Phansy, who finished a nose in front of Jungle Peace.

Gallagher, who thinks Firenze Flavor is a filly on the upswing, did not see the finish in that order.

“I think there’s more to come for her, bur first I need to go to LensCrafters,” he said in the winner’s circle. “I thought she finished third.”

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Firenze Flavor, racing on the outside of the trio in the final strides, had a slight edge at the right time, finishing 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:49.91. Firenze Flavor earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 78.

Drayden Van Dyke rode Firenze Flavor for the first time in the $100,500 Honeymoon Stakes, the filly’s first start at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Firenze Flavor was last of six for the first six furlongs, chasing Jungle Peace, who set a modest pace of 23.84 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.10 for a half-mile.

Firenze Flavor had advanced to fourth, still trailing by 2 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining.

“She gave me a very good kick and ran into soft fractions, too,” Van Dyke said. “I didn’t think they were going that quick.”

As Catch Can, who has finished second in three stakes, finished fourth, beaten slightly less than a length. Schilflied and Atia completed the order of finish in the small field.

Firenze Flavor, by Liam’s Map, has won three of her last four starts, including a maiden race in January and an allowance race on April 25. Those races were at a mile on turf.

Umberto Rispoli, who rode Jungle Peace on Sunday, and Kazushi Kimura, who rode As Catch Can in the Honeymoon, were aboard for those wins.

Rispoli stuck with Jungle Peace, who was unbeaten in three turf sprints since mid-February, her only starts in the United States. Jungle Peace won the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on April 27. She was the only stakes winner in the Honeymoon field.

The Honeymoon was Jungle Peace’s longest race since a third-place finish in a seven-furlong maiden race in Ireland last October.

“It was a big gap” in distance, Rispoli said, referring to Jungle Peace’s recent races. “She tried. I think she handled it pretty well.”

To prepare for the Honeymoon, Van Dyke said he reviewed Firenze Flavor’s replays with Gallagher in recent days.

“She’s not easy to ride if you don’t know her,” Van Dyke said. “I wanted to get as familiar with her as I could without getting on her.”

Firenze Flavor, who races for U.S. Equine and Oda Racing, has won 3 of 5 starts and earned $134,180. In a separate conversation, Van Dyke agreed with Gallagher’s assessment that the lightly raced Firenze Flavor is improving.

“She was shying away from the horse to the inside,” Van Dyle said. “In my opinion, there is more there.”

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