In Italian cruises to Honey Fox Stakes victory
In Italian, lei puo correre means “she can run.” And yes, she really can.
Chad Brown knows a high-class female turf horse when he sees one, and his assessment of 4-year-old In Italian proved accurate as the filly aced her stakes debut, going wire to wire in the Grade 3, $150,000 Honey Fox Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream.
In Italian was, in a word, eccelente.
Thrice started, the filly came into the Honey Fox with only maiden and first-level allowance wins on her resume. Brown and owner Peter Brant had scratched In Italian from the Endeavour Stakes last month at Keeneland (they won it anyway with Bleecker Street), Brown saying he wanted a more spacing between In Italian’s starts. Brown said the filly, by Dubawi out of Florentina, by Redoute’s Choice, “had always trained near the top of her group,” and In Italian was bet that way, paying $7.40 as the favorite.
That In Italian, given her obvious talent and high-profile connections, was bet down in the win pool came as no surprise. What was surprising is that Irad Ortiz Jr. was able to hustle his mount from the gate and take the lead before the first turn, none of the other pace players going with In Italian. No fractions were available, but visually it was clear that Ortiz had succeeded in controlling the pace and the race. In Italian, who rates nicely and goes with her head nice and low, clearly was loaded at the top of the stretch, and when Jouster tried to squeeze through along the rail and make a race of the Honey Fox, Ortiz asked for run and got plenty. In Italian quickly opened a clear lead and coasted to the wire a 1 1/4-length winner.
The official clocking for the mile on firm going was 1:35.16, the time adjusted downward after first being recorded as more than two seconds slower. It’s unclear just how fast In Italian finished, but she zipped home with good energy and won with something left. Wakanaka, making her second American start after being imported from Europe, improved nicely upon her sixth-place finish in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf and rallied outside to finish second. Navratalova finished another half-length back in third.
In Italian received a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
Four starts, three wins, a sharp graded stakes debut. So far, molto bene.
Coinage gets up in Palm Beach
Coinage took first money in the $125,000 Palm Beach Stakes, getting up by a neck over Main Event in the one-mile grass race for 3-year-olds.
Coinage broke from post 2 and quickly was snugged behind the pace of Bueno Bueno by jockey Luis Saez. Initially slow to settle, Coinage eventually came back to Saez and worked out a favorable trip sitting in the pocket. Saez came off the fence at the three-sixteenths pole, swung four wide to attack the leaders, and ran down a stubborn main event in the final half-furlong.
Main Event, coming off a turf-route maiden win, wound up three paths wide around the entire second turn and tried to fight off the more experienced Coinage but came up short while finishing 1 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Bueno Bueno. Red Danger, surprisingly favored at 9-5, was fourth by a neck.
Coinage ($6.80), trained by Mark Casse, won the With Anticipation Stakes last summer at Saratoga, finished off his 2-year-old season with a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and was third Feb. 5 in the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy. No fractions were available for the Palm Beach, but Coinage was timed in 1:36.12 over a firm course. Royal Spirit, who might have been favored, was scratched after coughing Saturday morning, per trainer Todd Pletcher.
Coinage is by Tapit out of Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro. He was bred in New York by Chester and Mary Broman, who own Coinage with D J Stable.