Nicole's Dream again beats males

Larry Rivelli made the right choice.

The trainer thought Nicole's Dream would have an easier time making the lead in the against the boys than she would in the Distaff Turf Sprint Championship against the girls.

Under E.T. Baird, Nicole's Dream broke on top in the $250,000 Turf Sprint Championship at Calder Race Course and led gate to wire to win the race by one length over a late-running Atticus Kristy, the 2-1 favorite. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to Nacascolo, who got third by a neck over Blue Pepsi Lodge.

The victory was the 24th and richest victory from 49 career starts for Nicole's Dream, a 6-year-old daughter of Northern Trend owned by Dare to Dream Stable, LLC. It was her 11th stakes victory and the seventh time Nicole's Dream has beaten males.

"We went in this race because I thought there was more early speed in the other race," Rivelli said. "It looked like the best horses in this race were more like closers. She's so fast out of the gate, and E.T. knows her like a book. Once she gets clear, she's very hard to beat. As it turned out, I don't think it would have mattered what race we chose today."

Under Baird, Nicole's Dream carved out fractions of 21.06 and 43.72 seconds and covered the five furlongs over firm turf in 55.44 seconds. She returned $7 as the second choice. The $150,000 first-place purse pushed Nicole's Dream's career earnings to $807,904.

"When we went the first quarter in 21 and change and I was clenched down on her pretty good, I knew she would be real tough to catch," Baird said.

Distaff Turf Sprint: 'Sidney' scores

Actually, it might have mattered which race Rivelli picked for Nicole's Dream. As good as she was, Unbridled Sidney may have been even better, taking command soon after the start as she rolled to a 3 1/2-length victory in the $250,000 $250,000 Distaff Turf Sprint Championship.

Under Shaun Bridgmohan, Unbridled Sidney carved out fractions of 20.95 and 43.15 seconds and covered the five furlongs in 55.36 seconds. She returned $10.40 to win.

It was the sixth win from 16 starts for Unbridled Sidney, a 5-year-old daughter of Unbridled's Song trained by Ronny Werner.

Gilded Gold, the even-money favorite, stumbled at the break and was shut off and found herself further back than normal in finishing fifth.

* The all-stakes pick four, which had a guaranteed pool of $100,000, returned $291.90 for a $1 wager. The winning combination was 7-6-13-10.