I Still Miss You rebounds with Key Cents victory

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - I Still Miss You bounced back from two hugely disappointing efforts in a big way Friday at Aqueduct, putting away pace-prompter Stone Cold Flirt in upper stretch and holding favored Pure Silver at bay to win the $100,000 Key Cents Stakes for New York-bred juvenile fillies.

I Still Miss You, who was 1-5 against Pure Silver when beaten by that rival in the Lynbrook Stakes at Belmont in July, was sent off at 11-1 after finishing last in the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga in August and sixth in the Maid of the Mist Stakes at Belmont in October.

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart said I Still Miss You bled and had a case of the thumps, an electrolyte imbalance, in the Seeking the Ante. In the Maid of the Mist, Englehart felt I Still Miss You simply didn’t want to go a mile and had run her race for six furlongs.

“When I pointed for this race I thought she could still run well,” Englehart said.

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Breaking from post 5 under Manny Franco, I Still Miss You dueled outside of Stone Cold Flirt, under Martin Garcia, through a quarter in 22.45 seconds and a half-mile in 46.15.

At the three-sixteenths pole, I Still Miss You left Stone Cold Flirt behind and was never seriously threatened by Pure Silver, the 8-5 favorite, who had been fourth early on and made a mild bid while finishing two lengths in front of Indy’s Lady as the first- and third-place finishers were trained by Englehart. Cause We Are Loyal finished fourth and was followed, in order, by Miss Mystique, Stone Cold Flirt, and Tayler’s the Boss.

I Still Miss You, a daughter of Majestic Warrior owned by Gold Star Racing Stable, Matthew Hand and Brian McKenzie, ran six furlongs in 1:12.98 and returned $25.80.

Englehart said he did want I Still Miss You into the race early on, but said he told Franco he could sit off another horse if need be. I Still Miss You was making her second start in blinkers.

“I think the blinkers allow her not to worry about the horses directly inside of her and outside of her,” Englehart said. “Manny is such a good rider, I thought he rode her perfect.”

Englehart said he was pleased with Indy’s Lady, under Jose Ortiz, being able to get up for third after being last, nearly eight lengths back, at the eighth pole.

“We had never had her behind dirt before,” Englehart said. “Jose said when he went to tuck her in she started climbing [from the dirt] so bad. Once he got her in the clear at the top of the stretch, she took off.”