Rinterval collects first career stakes win

Rinterval turned back all comers, the last one being favored Danzon, when posting the first stakes victory of her career Saturday in the $50,000 Wintergreen Stakes at Turfway Park.

Trainer Eric Reed had promised before the one-mile race that Ben Creed, who was riding without his usual five-pound apprentice allowance because of the stakes conditions, would permit Rinterval to run freely early.

That she did, as the 5-year-old Rinterval got the best of Miss Luann when contesting the early pace, then edged away from Irish Ridge before finishing 2 1/4 lengths before Danzon in the field of 10 fillies and mares. Irish Ridge held third, a neck behind Danzon and three-quarters of a length before Deputy Darling.

Rinterval, owned by Jerry Jamgotchian, returned $8.80 as second choice after finishing in 1:40.68 over Polytrack. The Irish-bred Rinterval entered the race as the leading earner in the field after finishing second in a $2.2 million race in Ireland at 2. She earned $29,450, lifting her bankroll to $498,627.

Rinterval had finished second in her previous race, the Likely Exchange at Turfway last month. She now has won 3 of 19 starts, with her previous triumphs coming in an overseas maiden race and a Presque Isle Downs allowance by disqualification.