Park Avenue fights back to win Ouija Board Distaff
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Park Avenue fought back in the stretch to win the $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff in dramatic fashion on Monday at Lone Star Park.
“We were screaming at the TV,” said winning trainer John Sadler.
The Ouija Board Distaff was one of six stakes on Lone Star Million Day. The races were worth a cumulative $1.2 million, making the program the most lucrative of the meet. Silver Prospector won the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile and King Ottoman won his maiden in the $300,000 Texas Derby. More detailed reports on the Sexton Mile and Texas Derby will appear shortly on drf.com.
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Park Avenue ($3.80) broke from the widest post in the one-mile turf race for fillies and mares and moved to the lead through an opening quarter in 22.97 seconds. She proceeded to set fractions of 46.41 for the half-mile and 1:10.53 for six furlongs. In the stretch, Park Avenue was headed by Avenue de France, but had more and went on to win on firm ground in 1:35.13.
Victor Espinoza was aboard the winner for Hronis Racing.
Park Avenue won by a length over Avenue de France to become a stakes winner, while it was another 4 1/2 lengths back in third to Quin Ella.
Park Avenue is now 2 for 2 on turf, having previously won an allowance on the surface at her home track of Santa Anita.
“She’s a nice filly,” Sadler said. “She ran a really good race. I think the post was a little tricky, but Victor did a good job of kind of navigating that. She went a little fast the first quarter – got to get position.”
Park Avenue is a daughter of Quality Road who has now won 4 of 11 starts and earned $316,412.
Special win for Calhoun
Trainer Bret Calhoun has won nearly 900 races at Lone Star Park since the track opened in 1997, but Excess Magic’s win in the $100,000 Chamberlain Bridge on Monday charted some new territory for the Texas native, who also races in Kentucky and Louisiana.
Calhoun won a race named for one of his former trainees for the first time. He had saddled Chamberlain Bridge to capture the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2010.
“Obviously, Chamberlain Bridge was a very, very special horse for us, winning the Breeders’ Cup for us,” Calhoun said. “He a very special horse and a horse very deserving of having a race named for him. To win with a horse for Bill Reed makes it very special. He’s been with me a long time, been an unbelievable supporter and a great owner.”
Reed also is the breeder of Excess Magic ($4.20), who rallied from next to last under Reylu Gutierrez to win the Chamberlain Bridge by a half-length over Archidust. Excess Magic covered five-eighths on firm turf in 56.34 seconds, after closing into fractions of 21.92 for the opening quarter and 44.39 for the half-mile.
“He’s been a lot of fun from early on - a very consistent horse for us from short to long,” Calhoun said. “I think five-eighths is a little short for him. I thought he had enough class to get up against those kind.”
Calhoun said Excess Magic could make his next start in the $150,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint on July 16 at Lone Star.
Bob’s Bad Boy was pulled up in the stretch run of the Chamberlain Bridge and was vanned off. The stewards did not have an update on his condition shortly after the race Monday.
Excess Magic is a son of Magician who has now won 6 of 12 starts and earned $254,687.
Kalypso takes Memorial Day Sprint
Kalypso made her Lone Star debut a winning one, with a three-quarter-length victory over Becca’s Rocket in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint.
Kalypso, who was previously based in Southern California, tracked fractions of 22.50 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.56 for the half-mile before covering six furlongs for fillies and mares in 1:10.71.
“She broke alert and put me right where I needed to be,” winning jockey Stewart Elliott said in a post-race interview broadcast at Lone Star.
Steve Asmussen trains Kalypso, a daughter of Brody’s Cause who races for the partnership of David Bernsen, Gainesway Stable, Rockingham Ranch, and Littlefield.
Kalypso has now won 4 of 12 starts for earnings of $569,878. Last year, she won the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita.
* It Makes Sense ($11.60) became a stakes winner when he put in a strong late push to capture the $100,000 Speightstown by a length over Payne. It was another three-quarters of a length back in third to Boldor. The winner covered six furlongs in 1:10.29. Jose Alvarez was aboard the winner for owner and trainer Shawn Davis.