Shotgun Hottie pulls off upset in Molly Pitcher
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OCEANPORT, New Jersey — Not only did Shotgun Hottie upset the Grade 3, $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park, she overcame a terrible trip in so doing.
Shotgun Hottie broke flat-footed from the outside post in an eight-horse field and immediately was conked by First to Act immediately to her inside. Instead of taking up a pressing or stalking position as expected, Shotgun Hottie was last into the first turn. Four to five paths wide around that bend and losing a similar amount of ground on the far turn, Shotgun Hottie still pushed past odds-on favorite Search Results, the 2022 Molly Pitcher winner, and held off late running Le da Vida by a half-length. She paid $18.40 winning her first graded stakes.
Shotgun Hottie finished the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.43, getting a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Shotgun Hottie, owned by Omar Aldabaggh and Jeff Ganje, began her career with trainer Tom Amoss, moved into the barn of William Morey, and this year took up residence with trainer Cherie da Vaux. After running the 4-year-old filly, by Gun Runner out of the Malibu Moon mare Re Entry, at Oaklawn and Keeneland, DeVaux decided to aim Shotgun Hottie at Monmouth’s series of dirt routes for older fillies and mares. DeVaux doesn’t run a Monmouth string, and not wanting to ship her horse back and forth, she left Shotgun Hottie under the care of Dan Ward, who was Jerry Hollendorfer’s assistant before going out on his own earlier this month. Shotgun Hottie was a distant third in the Serena’s Song here before winning the Ladies Secret on June 10 like a horse who was making a breakthrough.
“Dan’s been great. He stays in contact with me like she’s his own. We didn’t have to ship back and forth and could stay on this dirt track, which can be a little finicky,” said DeVaux.
Paco Lopez rode Shotgun Hottie for the first time in the Ladies Secret and was back aboard Saturday. Even after the early trouble and wide trip, Lopez didn’t panic, waiting patiently, if wide, as second choice Loved set modest splits of 23.96 and 47.71. Search Results stalked from second, and by the five-sixteenths pole the chasers were ganging up on Loved. Search Results was under a heavy drive at the quarter pole and looked like she was backing out of it, but she fought on between horses, wearing down Loved. Shotgun Hottie, however, always was going better, making the lead past the furlong pole and holding clear the late push from Le da Vida, who took second from Search Results, .
“She fought for a little while; she kept coming,” said Joel Rosario, who rode Search Results for the first time.
Search Results is a Grade 1 winner who was coming off a fine second in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps. She was the best horse coming into the Molly Pitcher, but improving Shotgun Hottie clearly was the best horse on the day.
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