Hastings shipper Ole's Miss takes Kent Handicap

AUBURN, Wash. – Ole’s Miss made her Emerald Downs debut a winning one Saturday, rallying from the back of the pack to edge longshot Mylast Sweet Pea in the $50,000 Kent Handicap for 3-year-old fillies.

Ole’s Miss ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.46 and paid $3.60 as the strong favorite in a six-horse field. Mylast Sweet Pea, at 20-1, finished a neck back in second after gamely putting away pace rival Chu and You at the top of the stretch. Mylast Sweet Pea was six lengths clear of third-place finisher Papa’s Flashy Girl, followed by Find Your Spot, whose four-race win streak ended; Belladiva, and Chu and You.

Emerald’s previous stakes race for 3-year-old fillies, the one-mile Irish Day Handicap on June 29, boiled down to a two-horse skirmish between the speedy Chu and You and Find Your Spot, an improving filly making her first stakes appearance. Find Your Spot prevailed, and was the 9-5 second favorite in the Kent, but was no match for Ole’s Miss, who was bred in Ontario and prior to Saturday had raced exclusively at Hastings in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Kent was Ole’s Miss’s third stakes victory in four starts this year, and the $27,500 winner’s check boosted her career earnings to $129,113 from seven starts for Ole Nielsen of Richmond, B.C. Leslie Mawing was the winning rider for trainer Tracy McCarthy.