She Be Wild comes on strong in Juvenile Fillies

ARCADIA, Calif. - Had things gone according to plan, Nancy and Michael Mazzoni would have been out of the racing business well before the was run Friday at Santa Anita Park.

But thanks to disinterest in a couple of their 2-year-olds at auction earlier in the year, the Mazzonis were forced to stay in the game. And Friday, they felt very fortunate they did.

She Be Wild, who failed to bring a bid of $19,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales spring 2-year-old in training sale, slipped through an opening along the rail in upper stretch under Julien Leparoux and persevered to a three-quarter-length victory in the Juvenile Fillies. Beautician got second by a head over Blind Luck, the 7-2 favorite. It was another three-quarters of a length to Biofuel in fourth

The victory was the fourth from five starts for She Be Wild, and likely earned her an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly. Twenty-two of the previous 25 winners of this race were crowned champions.

She Be Wild is trained by Wayne Catalano, who won the 2006 Juvenile Fillies with Dreaming of Anna. Catalano was given She Be Wild by the Mazzonis, who had another horse they couldn't sell earlier in the year and decided to remain in the game.

"We had a lot of low moments before this one, and almost didn't stay in," Nancy Mazzoni said. "But because we were unable to sell the foal at the sale, we kept her and here we are."

"She was small, she had a great stride, and she worked very well in the sale, but she was too small; they just went right past her," Catalano said. "They're all looking for that big, rangy horse."

Under Julien Leparoux, She Be Wild used her big stride to get away from the gate on top, but Leparoux was content to allow Always a Princess, under Garrett Gomez, get the lead entering the first turn. Leparoux let She Be Wild settle along the inside while Connie and Michael stalked Always a Princess through a half-mile in 47.52 seconds and six furlongs in 1:11.61.

Turning for home, there was a wall of five horses across the track, with She Be Wild maintaining her position along the rail. She had enough room in upper stretch to get through and she outfinished Beautician and Blind Luck. She Be Wild, a daughter of Offlee Wild, covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.82 and returned $16.80.

"I was following Garrett," Leparoux said. "I thought he was on the horse to beat. He opened the rail around the quarter pole, I took a shot, and I guess it worked."

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