Modo wins Bluebonnet in Lone Star opener, giving LaRose first stakes winner
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Modo gave Kinnon LaRose his first stakes win as a trainer on Thursday night, when she led throughout to capture the $75,000 Bluebonnet Stakes on the opening night card at Lone Star Park near Dallas. She won by 5 1/2 lengths over Too Much Kiki, while it was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third to Naval Woman.
The Bluebonnet was a 6 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares bred in Texas.
Modo ($3) quickly took command out of the gate, and was clear through an opening quarter in 22.02 seconds and a half-mile in 43.95. She maintained her advantage through the lane as Too Much Kiki put in a closing bid through the stretch. Modo continued on and ultimately covered the distance on a fast track in 1:16.31.
“She’s just fast and I let her roll out of there,” winning rider Lane Luzzi said in a post-race interview broadcast by Lone Star. “Those were kind of the instructions and she takes to it well. Happy to be aboard.”
LaRose took over the stable of longtime trainer Tom Amoss this spring, when Amoss announced he was moving to an advisory role as of April 1. LaRose registered his first win as a trainer on April 10 at Keeneland, and now has two wins at the Lexington, Ky., track and another at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Modo races for Joel Politi. The Bluebonnet was the third stakes win of her career and overall is 5 for 11. Modo is a daughter of Liam’s Map.
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