Raucous rallies up the rail to upset Chelsey Flower Stakes

On the far turn of the $100,000 Chelsey Flower Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday, it seemed everyone had the same idea and a number of horses swung wide for the stretch run. Jockey Eric Cancel had other ideas, though, and stayed to the rail.

Raucous, with Cancel aboard, slingshot up the inside in upper stretch, grabbed the lead nearing the furlong pole and pulled away for a 2 1/2-length victory. The Chelsey Flower, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies, was the third win of the day for Cancel, who took advantage of a number of New York's most established jockeys being at Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup.

Raucous paid $85.50 to win and almost single-handedly forced a $11,710 pick-six carryover to the Sunday card. Raucous is owned by Robert Evans and races for trainer Christophe Clement. She was timed in 1:36.87.

"As soon as she saw the hole at the quarter pole, she just went for it," Cancel said. "She was really confident with everything she was doing. She already had her momentum going, and I don't think anything was going to bother her."

Brattata, the 2-1 favorite, was one of the horses who swung wide nearing the stretch. She came seven wide into the lane and finished well to be second best. Night Time Lady held third by a head over Golden Orb, who also is trained by Clement.

Golden Orb ran into a traffic jam in upper stretch, then regrouped and was finding her best stride late.

Raucous is based at Belmont with Clement, but made her first three starts on the road. She finished third in a five-furlong dirt race at Parx in July, then was second in a 5 1/2-furlong main-track sprint at Delaware Park in August. In her most recent start, she won a mile and 70-yard maiden race on turf at Parx by 2 1/4 lengths.