Mission of Joy stays perfect on turf with Florida Oaks win
Mission of Joy parlayed her fondness for the Tampa Bay Downs turf course and a well-judged ride by Antonio Gallardo into a game neck victory over Alpha Bella in Saturday’s $200,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs. Longshot Juniper’s Moon finished third after prompting the early pace in the Grade 3 turf fixture for 3-year-old fillies.
Mission of Joy, a daughter of Kitten’s Joy, finished ninth over the Tapeta course in her career debut at Woodbine. But she has been perfect in three starts since switching to turf, each of those victories coming at Tampa Bay Downs, a streak that began with a four-length maiden win in her 2-year-old finale and continued with a game two-length triumph in an entry-level allowance race when launching her 3-year-old campaign Jan. 18.
Mission of Joy raced between horses in midpack in the run down the backstretch, was fanned well wide by Alpha Belle entering the stretch, and then outfinished that rival under vigorous urging from Gallardo. Alpha Belle stuck her head in front between calls through midstretch but could not match strides with the winner at the end. Juniper’s Moon gained the advantage at the top of the stretch, briefly edged clear, but could not keep pace with the top pair in the final sixteenth.
Free Look, the 9-5 favorite, was jostled briefly after the break, raced near the rear of the 12-horse field into the stretch, then rallied belatedly down the center of the track to finish fourth while never menacing the leaders in her first start since finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Mission of Joy covered 1 1/16 miles over the firm going in 1:41.12 and paid $12.
“I thought she was super impressive and I thought Tony gave her a very cool ride. He was very patient,” winning trainer Graham Motion said. “She really did it impressively. She fought for it and she showed a lot of heart. Since we got her down to [Tampa Bay Downs], I can’t say enough about what a good job Annie [assistant Anne Sinchak] has done with her. To be honest, I did not know she was this kind of filly – she really stepped up today.”
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