Right horse wins for Tommy Town

INGLEWOOD, Calif.- It was not easy for California breeder Tom Stull to watch the Fran's Valentine Stakes at Hollywood Park last weekend.

As much as he focused on the filly he owns, U R All That I Am, he also kept his eye on You Lift Me Up, the race's heavy favorite whom he bred and then lost via claim in 2008.

The result was not what bettors expected. U R All That I Am had an ideal trip under jockey Rafael Bejarano and won the one-mile turf race by 2 1/4 lengths over Woman Warrior. You Lift Me Up could only finish fourth.

The win left Stull elated, thinking that his family's Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., has a filly in U R All That I Am who can be competitive in turf stakes for statebreds, and possibly against graded stakes company later this year.

"She'll be a good one," he said after leaving the winner's circle. "I'm really impressed. I didn't know she'd run quite like that."

A winner of 8 of 15 starts and $307,628, U R All That I Am has won three stakes at Hollywood Park in the last year, a far cry from the modest start to her career in a maiden claimer at Golden Gate Fields in 2009. Last November, U R All That I Am won the Cat's Cradle Stakes for statebreds. Last month, she won the B. Thoughtful Stakes for statebred female sprinters over 7 1/2 furlongs on California Gold Rush Day.

But the Fran's Valentine was her first win on turf in her second appearance on the surface. She was a fast-closing second, beaten a head, by Unzip Me in the Irish O'Brien Stakes on turf at Santa Anita in March. The result left Stull disappointed, but the form has held up. Unzip Me has since won two turf sprint stakes for females.

"She should have beaten" Unzip Me, Stull said. "She came flying. I was happy she took to the turf again. She'll run either way."

Stull and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer are considering a quick comeback for U R All That I Am in the $60,000 Redondo Beach Stakes over a mile on turf next Saturday, or the Grade 2, $150,000 Royal Heroine Stakes over a mile on turf on July 3.

"It's a little quick back for her," Hollendorfer said of the Redondo Beach. "The only other race is the Royal Heroine. It will be a pretty quick jump. We'll look at both of those. It seems like she's doing very well on grass."

U R All That I Am is by Valid Wager out of Fort Silver, by Fort Calgary. Fort Silver, 20, has produced five stakes winners, including Enzo the Baker, Random Memo, Princess V, Vito Corleone. U R All That I Am has earned the most prize money of Fort Silver's foals.

You Lift Me Up, who is by Lord Carson, has earned $447,043. She was claimed away from Tommy Town for $32,000 in June 2008, and has since won three stakes and placed third in the Grade 2 Beverly Hills Handicap in 2009. All of that has been a big surprise to Stull.

"We didn't have a clue she was that kind of filly," he said. "She hadn't shown that much."

Stull may not own You Lift Me Up, but he does benefit from her success through breeder awards.

Earlier this week, Stull's racing presence expanded further when a few of the Tommy Town Thoroughbred 2-year-olds began arriving at the track. There will be 48 juveniles headed to the track this year, he said. Chances are some of them will be heard from in coming months.