Prize Exhibit ends losing streak in Megahertz Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – With each passing furlong, Prize Exhibit moved closer to the front in Monday’s $100,690 Megahertz Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.

Jockey Mike Smith positioned Prize Exhibit in sixth while racing on the inside on the first turn and had moved the mare into fifth by the end of the backstretch. Prize Exhibit was fourth on the turn when Smith guided her to the outside approaching the stretch.

Once clear, Prize Exhibit accelerated rapidly, taking the lead in the final sixteenth to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

“I was able to get her to relax early, and she can be on the rank side,” Smith said. “I got a clear trip today. I’ve been handcuffed the last few times I’ve been on her, with traffic in front of me. I got her out in the clear today, and it was great.”

Prize Exhibit’s 10-race losing streak spanning 54 weeks was over. The Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares was Prize Exhibit’s fourth stakes win.

“She’s a tough girl,” trainer Jim Cassidy said. “I’ll give her that.”

Owned by Deron Pearson, Prize Exhibit ($8.80) ran a mile in 1:35.56 on a turf course rated “good.”

“She finally got the trip she needed and the ground she needed,” Pearson said.

Jeremy’s Legacy, a 10-1 outsider, led in the stretch and finished second, a head in front of 3-1 Into the Mystic. Kenriya, an import from France, finished fourth, followed by Do the Dance, Poster Girl, and Tiz a Kiss.

Tiz a Kiss, the 2-1 favorite, was beaten nearly 19 lengths and was not urged in the final furlong by jockey Kent Desormeaux. Trainer Richard Baltas said Tiz a Kiss was “all right” after the race.

Prize Exhibit won the Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes on the hillside turf course last January but was winless for the rest of the year. She was second in the restricted Osunitas Stakes on turf at Del Mar. In 2015, Prize Exhibit won consecutive stakes in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Santa Anita and the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar.

By Showcasing, the 5-year-old Prize Exhibit has won 7 of 31 starts and earned $637,045. Cassidy intended to start Prize Exhibit in the Las Cienegas Stakes on the hillside turf course Jan. 7 but scratched the mare when the race was switched to the main track because of rain.