Poppy Flower closes fast to win Galway Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Poppy Flower seems to be blossoming as a come-from-behind sprinter.
For the second time in three starts, Poppy Flower used a strong closing kick to win a listed stakes, Thursday rallying down the center of Saratoga’s outer turf course under Jose Ortiz to win the $150,000 Galway Stakes by one length over Empress Tigress. It was a half-length to third-place finisher Delmona, who set a contested pace along with Empress Tigress.
Makin My Move was fourth, followed by Have a Good Day, Breeze Easy, Half Is Enough, Derrynane, and Artos. Benbang scratched after grabbing her left front foot in her stall, according to trainer Jonathan Thomas.
The victory was Poppy Flower’s second from three starts and allowed her to avenge a second-place finish to Empress Tigress in the Coronation Cup here July 15.
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Ortiz said he felt the difference between that loss and Thursday’s victory was the fact Empress Tigress had an easier time disposing of the pacesetter than she did Thursday when Delmona fought with her all the way past the eighth pole.
“The race played different today,” Ortiz said.
Breaking from the rail, Poppy Flower saved all the ground under Ortiz while Delmona set fractions of 22.25 seconds for the quarter and 44.87 for the half under pressure from Empress Tigress.
Ortiz made an easy transition from the inside to the outside and was six wide in the stretch but powered home in the last sixteenth to get the victory.
“I could have waited longer and see if something opened up inside, but I felt like there was a blanket of horse and I don’t want to be a hero,” Ortiz said. “I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me and she always finishes well, so I wanted to have a clean run home.”
Poppy Flower, a daughter of Lea owned by Anmore Thoroughbreds, covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.09 and returned $10.40 as the second choice.
Last year, when trained by Wesley Ward, Poppy Flower raced on the pace. In last year’s Bolton Landing, she finished second to Chi Town Lady, who just last Saturday upset the Grade 1 Test Stakes.
Asked about the change in running styles, Bill Mott, who just started training the filly this year, said “I could never train one to go that fast.”
Apparently, he can train one to finish that fast.