Manuka Honey shows she's ready for distance in Pocahontas
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If you thought Manuka Honey might not get a mile in the Pocahontas Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs, you must not have gotten a look at the filly.
Manuka Honey, if anything, seems to want to go farther than a mile, and it was through the last furlong of Saturday’s race that she validated her heavy favoritism, pulling away to a two-length victory under Luis Saez.
Scarlett Begonia, coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga, finished second, a head in front of Miss Anna. Stripe Show was fourth and Betty Sue fifth, the top four finishers earning, respectively, 10, 5, 3, 2, and 1 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks.
That classic race is run over 1 1/8 miles, and while it’s too early to say whether Manuka Honey has the talent of a true Oaks contender, she’d probably get that distance, too. Now 3 for 3 to start her career, Manuka Honey won a five-furlong maiden race in June by 7 1/4 lengths and the seven-furlong Ellis Park Debutante by a similar margin: The short-sprint score was especially impressive coming from a big, strong filly with the stride and bearing of a route horse.
Saez had to ride Manuka Honey in the Pocahontas, keeping his mount busy to the half-mile pole and around the turn, and riding very aggressively to the five-sixteenths marker. Manuka Honey advanced in spurts while generally drawing closer to Scarlett Begonia and Miss Anna, and by the three-sixteenths pole it was apparent she’d pass them. Saez, in fact, was able to ease up on the pressure after Manuka Honey got into a homestretch rhythm to win going away.
Manuka Honey got her one-turn mile in 1:36:90 and paid $3.92 to win. Brian Lynch trains the filly for five owners: Lisa Lee, Jason Sciortino, William Lynch, Brian Howe, and Terry Hamilton. Manuka Honey is by Upstart out of Drop Dead Red, by Hold Me Back. It’s not exactly a fashionable pedigree, and Manuka Honey, bred by Hamilton, failed to meet a $19,000 reserve at a yearling sale. That worked out well: She’s unbeaten in three starts, has already earned about $400,000, and might just now be getting out to the distances she really wants.
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