Polar Plunge earns determined victory in Lady Slipper

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The favored Polar Plunge ($4.80) responded in a determined fashion for a head victory in Saturday's $60,000 Lady Slipper Stakes, a six-furlong race for Minnesota-bred fillies and mares.

Under a stiff Denny Velazquez drive, Polar Plunge claimed the pace-setting Sky and Sea and fended off the late-rallying Somerset Swinger in a dramatic finish.

Somerset Swinger got past Sky and Sea by a neck for second and Thunder and Honey was just three-quarters of a length behind Sky and Sea in fourth.

The Gary Scherer-trained Polar Plunge, a 6-year-old Successful Appeal mare, ended of string of placings and narrow defeats that went back to June 2013. It was the first time she had been piloted by Velazquez. She covered six furlongs in 1:12.39.

Collecting $36,000 for owners Al and Bill Ulwelling, Polar Plunge won for the eighth time and pushed her lifetime earnings to $273,144.