Joint Effort wins going away

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Joint Effort circled rivals into the stretch before drawing off to an impressive 2 1/2-length victory over A Sea Trippi in the $250,000 .

Joint Effort, a 3-year-old daughter of Runaway Groom, rallied five wide into the stretch, readily overtook the tiring leaders inside the eighth pole, and won going away under jockey Mark Guidry. A Sea Trippi also rallied wide off the turn and finished willingly to be second-best. Lake Alice, a 90-1 chance, raced forwardly from the outset and continued well to be third.

Bully Bones, the tepid 5-2 favorite, was hard-used contesting the early pace from along the rail and faded through the stretch, finishing a well-beaten fifth in a field of 12 3-year-old fillies.

Joint Effort was bred in Florida by her owner, Donald Dizney. She returned $10.40 after covering six furlongs in 1:09.49 over a fast track. The win was the second straight for Joint Effort, who was also second in the Grade 3 Debutante Stakes during the summer of her 2-year-old season.

"Like many young horses, she had her ups and downs at 2," said trainer Dale Romans. "She was good early in her career, had a little lull when going through a growth spurt, but she's on top of her game right now."

Romans said he has no definite plans at the moment for Joint Effort's next start.

"I'll discuss it with Mr. Dizney first, but I think she'll stretch out, and I'd love to make the Kentucky Oaks with her if I can," said Romans.