Grace On Grace rallies for upset score in Gowell

Just a few weeks after the colt who took trainer Larry Demeritte to his first Kentucky Derby left his barn, the trainer has started 2025 with another promising 3-year-old. He sent out Grace On Grace to win the $125,000 Gowell Stakes for newly-turned sophomore fillies on New Year’s Day at Turfway Park.

Demeritte, born in 1949 in the Bahamas, has trained just two graded stakes winners in his career, and gained national attention last year when one of those, West Saratoga, became his first Derby starter, finishing 12th. West Saratoga was privately sold to Saudi Arabian interests last month, with Demeritte’s health issues, as he has battled cancer for some years, cited as a reason.

But Demeritte is not out of the game; he has sent out five starters at Turfway since racing started in early December, and has three wins and a second. The latest win belongs to Grace On Grace, who had Fernando De La Cruz in the irons for Demeritte and owner Francetta Allen. The filly surged past the pacesetters in the stretch, then held off a late charge by Les Is Best to score by three-quarters of a length. She finished the six furlongs on the Tapeta in 1:12.16 and paid $23.02 as the second-longest shot in the six-horse field.

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