Holy Nova relieves Gutierrez's pain

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Despite being in obvious pain, jockey Mario Gutierrez gave Holy Nova a perfect ride to win the Grade 3, $124,575 Ballerina at Hastings Saturday.

Gutierrez hit the ground hard when he came off of Nite Time News in the first race and then took off all of his other mounts before guiding Holy Nova to a one-length win over odds-on favorite La Rocca.

The Ballerina was basically a match race from start to finish and Holy Nova probably had the edge being on the outside of La Rocca over a sloppy track that was drenched by a downpour just prior to the race. Holy Nova and La Rocca, ridden by Fernando Perez, raced as a team while setting moderate fractions of 24.04, 49.39 and 1:14.51. Holy Nova got the best of La Rocca and posted a final time of 1:52.37 for the 1 1/8 miles.

Holy Nova is trained by Troy Taylor and owned by Glenn Todd and Patrick Kinsella.

"I just did what Glen and Troy told me to do," said Gutierrez. "I just tried to slow her down as much as possible and I knew she would give me all she had when it was time to go."

Gutierrez downplayed his injuries.

"My hand hurt a little, but that was all," he said.

Holy Nova paid $5.80. She was coupled with Summer Song who made a late move to finish third, a neck behind La Rocca.