R Naja notches first stakes victory with Star Shoot

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Delaware-based R Naja ($19.50) put away a rival up front and kept on going to land her first stakes victory in the $102,200 Star Shoot at Woodbine on Sunday.

R Naja linked up on the lead with second choice Red Lodge through honest fractions in the six-furlong sprint, as the favored Will She stalked on the outside in third. R Naja assumed command at the quarter pole en route to a 1 3/4-length score over the charging maiden, Sister Nation, who finished another 1 1/2 lengths clear of Will She.

The final time was 1:10.33.

Luis Contreras rode R Naja for trainer Mike Stidham.

“(Stidham) called me and told me just to go to the lead, and never look back,” Contreras said. “The wind on the backstretch helped me a lot. It was behind us. She was relaxed, and I go with the flow. She never stopped running. At the head of the stretch, the wind was pretty strong, and I tried to stay really low in the saddle.”

R Naja, a daughter of Exchange Rate, banked $60,000 for DARRS Inc.