Isabella Sings pulls off shocker in Mrs. Revere Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trifecta bettors wouldn’t normally expect a very big payoff when the respective 1-2-3 finishers are trained by Todd Pletcher, Graham Motion, and Christophe Clement.

But given the wide-open nature of the Grade 2, $200,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes on Saturday, the whopping $9,514.60 payoff on a winning $1 tri combination came richly deserved.

Isabella Sings, a 27-1 shot ridden by Paco Lopez, took the early lead from 13 other 3-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile turf race and never looked back, holding off 44-1 Rainha Da Bateria by a half-length. Devine Aida was another 3 3/4 lengths back in third.

“My filly relaxed real nice,” said Lopez. “She was strong when I asked her.”

Unchallenged through fractions of 23.50 seconds, 48.07, and 1:13.41, Isabella Sings continued along her merry way as a group of would-be closers gave futile chase after straightening for home.

Onus, the 2-1 favorite, and Partisan Politics, the 3-1 second choice, were among a group that swung wide at the quarter pole, but neither had any kick when finishing ninth and fifth. Only Rainha Da Bateria, who had weaved her way through rivals down the stretch under Robby Albarado, kept the race from being a stunning blowout.

Isabella Sings returned $56.60 to win after finishing in 1:44.74 over a course rated good. She is the second-longest-priced winner in the 25-year history of the race, after Caught in the Rain (32-1) in 2002.

Isabella Sings, bred and owned by Siena Farm, is a Kentucky-bred by Eskendereya. The victory was her fourth from 11 career starts and her first in a graded race, with the $112,840 winner’s share lifting her earnings to $303,950. In her two preceding starts, she had finished second by a head in the Grade 3 Boiling Springs in September and a tired fourth in the Pebbles Stakes behind Partisan Politics and Devine Aida in October.

Pletcher, speaking from New York after the Mrs. Revere, said Isabella Sings will now get a freshening at Siena in Paris, Ky., before being sent to Florida to get started on a 4-year-old campaign.

Besides the giant trifecta, mutuel payoffs also included a $2 exacta (10-13) of $1,799.20 and a 10-cent superfecta (10-13-6-12) worth $6,381.79.

A trophy presentation was made by Dr. Hiram Polk and the family of Dr. David Richardson, who was unable to attend. Polk and Richardson campaigned Mrs. Revere in the mid-1980s.