Golden Gate Fields: Miss Machiavelli wins Pike Place Dancer

Miss Machiavelli ($4), a troubled fifth in the $100,000 Surfer Girl in her turf debut, took advantage of a little luck to win the $100,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday despite running erratically after straightening into the lane of the one-mile race.

Miss Machiavelli was last early, and as she moved into contention approaching the quarter pole, she took advantage of French Tart drifting out to get room to challenge three wide. She, too, drifted out early in the lane, but jockey Dennis Carr straightened her out as she took after Alasharchy.

Miss Machiavelli was able to wear down the game Alasharchy, who was making her turf and route debuts, to win by a half-length in 1:39.42.

Alasharchy dueled with the comebacking Purims Faith before that one began to fade in the stretch. Alasharchy opened up at the top of the lane before being run down by the winner but finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Pleasant Miss for second.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better trip,” Carr said, adding that when the opening allowed him to move up, the Artie Schiller filly responded nicely. “Something caught her eye, and she ducked out on me, but once we got back running, I thought we had plenty of time. This filly’s got a lot of fight.”

A $20,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Miss Machiavelli earned $60,000 as she improved her career record to 2 for 4 and boosted her earnings to $108,500 for Big Chief Racing LLC and trainer Keith Desormeaux.