A Mo Reay makes Bayakoa second consecutive stakes victory
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A Mo Reay won her second consecutive stakes race Saturday when she forged to a half-length victory over Lovely Ride in the Grade 3, $250,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park.
It was another 2 3/4 lengths back in third to Le Da Vida.
The Bayakoa was a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares and part of a series of races leading up to the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom in April.
A Mo Reay ($6.20) settled in fifth along the rail as Lovely Ride moved to the lead and was soon joined by Graysonsmacho Gal, with the pair racing through an opening quarter in 24.24 seconds and a half-mile in 48.07. Lovely Ride shook her pace foe through six furlongs in 1:12.63, as A Mo Reay advanced along the rail on the final turn and was angled out into the stretch. The eventual winner took after Lovely Ride and caught that one nearing the wire, while covering the distance on a fast track in 1:45.07.
“It looked like there was a little bit of speed,” winning rider Florent Geroux said in post-race interview conducted by Oaklawn. “We wanted to try to make her relax the first part and make her finish.”
Brad Cox trains A Mo Reay, who came into the Bayakoa off a win in the Pago Hop at Fair Grounds. The off-the-turf race was run Dec. 31. Geroux was aboard for the Pago Hop and came in to ride for the Bayakoa.
Hunter Valley Farm owns A Mo Reay, who is a daughter of Uncle Mo. She has now won 4 of 11 starts and $392,650.
*** Earlier on the card, Gun Pilot ($ ) flattered Daily Racing Form DerbyWatch member Verifying when he won an entry-level allowance by two lengths. He covered a mile on a fast track in 1:38.86. The win came one start after Gun Pilot ran second to Verifying in a first-level allowance at Oaklawn. Steve Asmussen trains Gun Pilot for Three Chimneys Farm. He had said after Gun Pilot's last race that the horse could develop into a candidate for the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at Oaklawn.
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