Maiden Beauty goes to lead and never looks back in Bay Ridge Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Maiden Beauty came out of an allowance win going one mile on Dec. 19 at Aqueduct so well that trainer Robert Falcone Jr. thought it would be worth running her back on short rest in one of two $100,000 stakes for New York-bred females offered here this week.
What he had to decide was whether to try her 1 1/8 miles in Friday’s Bay Ridge or cut her back to seven furlongs in Sunday’s La Verdad. Falcone believes Maiden Beauty is best when she’s able make the lead and thought it would be easier for her to do that in the longer race.
Falcone’s handicapping was spot on as Maiden Beauty, under Kendrick Carmouche, glided to the lead entering the first turn of the Bay Ridge and cruised to a relatively easy 3 3/4-length victory over Ice Princess. It was three-quarters of a length back to Sharp Starr in third. Byhubbyhellomoney and Amity Island completed the order of finish.
“She’s just different on the lead,” said Falcone, who won two races on Thursday’s eight-race card. “She doesn’t want anyone coming near her when she’s on the lead.”
Maiden Beauty was able to get a clear lead entering the first turn through a quarter in 24.74 seconds. Ice Princess, the 6-5 favorite under Jose Lezcano, was within a half-length of Maiden Beauty after a half-mile in 49.76 seconds and six furlongs in 1:14.11 over the sloppy, speed-favoring surface. The slow fractions enabled Carmouche to have plenty left to finish with, as Maiden Beauty opened up down the lane with Ice Princess giving futile chase.
“That filly always runs one way for me – she runs really good on the lead,” Carmouche said. “The question today was going to be the mile and an eighth coming back so quick, but with a short field I pretty much dominated the race from the beginning.
Maiden Beauty, a 5-year-old daughter of Revolutionary owned by John Grossis, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.76 and returned $8.60 as the third choice.