Richie’slilwildcat just hangs on in Showtime Deb Stakes
Richie’slilwildcat at heart probably is a 5 1/2-furlong specialist, but she had just enough to get to the wire first in the six-furlong Showtime Deb Stakes on Saturday at Hawthorne.
With half a furlong left in the Showtime Deb, Richie’slilwildcat was all-in under Jose Valdivia, running on fumes as Speed Devil on the outside and Cowgirl Callie on the inside steadily closed, but the wire came in time, and Richie’slilwildcat was home by a about a half-length.
“She’s a nice filly, but I think she does have distance limitations,” said trainer Larry Rivelli. “We were happy the wire came.”
Rivelli scratched Jean Elizabeth from the $75,000 Showtime Deb on Saturday for fear his two speedy 2-year-old fillies would compromise one another, but Richie’slilwildcat wound up setting quick splits in any case. Under Valdivia, who just came in for the Saturday card at Hawthorne, Richie’slilwildcat set splits of 22.06 and 45.03 on a fast and fast-playing main track. She stopped the timer in 1:10.96 while returning $3.60 to win bettors that had to sweat out the final strides.
Richie’slilwildcat is by Wildcat Heir out of Richiesgirlgotgame, by Five Star Day, and she won for the third time in five starts. Rivelli and Richard Ravin bred her and own her with the V-Leaf Stable.
Runner-up Speed Devil probably prefers turf and longer distances, but after an inside-early, outside-late closing trip, she still might have caught the favorite had she maintained a straighter course in upper and middle stretch.