Por Que No surges to Boiling Springs victory
Por Que No set a walking pace and, when asked for run at the top of the stretch in the Boiling Springs Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park, her answer was a resounding, “Si!”
Taking full advantage of their tactical edge, Por Que No and jockey Ferrin Peterson dashed clear of chasing odds-on favorite Seasons at the three-sixteenths pole and went on to an easy 4 1/2-length victory. European import Shantisara got second and, despite finishing far behind the winner, ran well enough in her North American debut, closing from last and comfortably passing a disappointing Seasons to earn the place.
Seasons, as has been her wont, broke poorly but showed some positional pace to race closest to Por Que No’s crawling splits of 25.82 and 49.60. But Seasons, perhaps better off coming from farther behind even if it puts her at the mercy of pace, never looked comfortable and didn’t come close to mounting a challenge.
The scratch of Orbs Baby Girl left Por Que No, a distant fourth in her only previous stakes try, as the controlling speed in the Boiling Springs, restricted to 3-year-old fillies.
“At the three-eighths pole I saw out of my peripheral vision another horse coming, so I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got to make them catch us, I’ve got to break their confidence.’ I shook her up a little and she had another gear,” Peterson said. “At the top of the lane she just took off. I know she can fight her jockey sometimes, so I was trying to slow her down as much as I could without taking energy away from her.”
Por Que No, who paid $9.60, was timed in 1:42.49 for 1 1/16 miles on a turf course still rated “firm” despite a downpour during the race before the Boiling Springs. Kent Sweezy trains the filly, by Wicked Strong out of the Cryptograph mare, Cryptic Message, for Fano Racing.
“The owners have about seven or eight horses with me and they’re from New Jersey,” Sweezy said. “They have a house in Monmouth Beach. They come out in the mornings and they watch their horses work. So, they wanted to see this horse race at their home track.”
Surely, they liked what they saw Saturday.