Skims turns tables on Vergara in Sands Point Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Vergara beat Skims in the Dueling Grounds Oaks last month at Kentucky Downs, she benefitted from having the better trip of the two fillies. On Saturday, the script got flipped as Skims got the better trip between the two 3-year-old fillies and beat Vergara by one length in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Aqueduct.
In the Dueling Grounds Oaks, Vergara saved all the ground while Skims was a bit wide and, though Skims made a brief lead, she couldn’t sustain her bid and was repelled by Vergara.
On Saturday, under John Velazquez, Skims sat an up-close third behind Hail To and Lady Baffled, while being able to keep Vergara and Joel Rosario boxed in on the inside. Sensing Hail To was attempting to get out down the backside, Velazquez split horses and made an early move to the lead entering the far turn while Rosario had to steady Vergara at that same point.
Despite Skims attempting to lug in when she got near the gap on the turf course, Velazquez was able to correct her and keep a re-rallying Vergara at bay to the wire. Vergara finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Eminent Victor.
“That other horse started getting out, so I let her run to close the hole and that made the difference I think, instead of sitting there and letting [Vergara] get through and then be [mad] waiting,” Velazquez said.
Skims, a Great Britain-bred daughter of Frankel owned and bred by Andrew Rosen, covered the 1 1/8 miles over an inner turf course labeled good in 1:51.14 and returned $11.20 as the fourth choice.
Shug McGaughey, the trainer of Skims, had liked the way his filly had been training enough to think about sending her to Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth at Keeneland. But after talking with Rosen, the decision was made to stay in New York.
“We figured it could come up a little more to our liking and all she had to do was ship down the road [from Belmont],” McGaughey said.
McGaughey mentioned the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 as a potential next start.
Rosario said having to steady on Vergara entering the far turn likely cost his filly a chance to win.
“Good trip until [Hail To] came out a little bit, so I decided to go in there and she came back in again and I had to steady a little bit,” Rosario said. “She was game, she came back and fought again. Little unlucky trip it looked like.”
Pizza Bianca, the 9-5 favorite, was making her first start since she finished eighth in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. She was last early and had to make a wide move in the stretch, and got beat three lengths while finishing fourth.
“Terrible post position, I was trying to drop in, I couldn’t do it going forward so I had to take her back and we ended up farther back than we wanted to be,” Ortiz said. “She made a good run. Bad draw, I think that took some of my chances away.”
Following Pizza Bianca in the order of finish were Spirit and Glory, Canisy, Hail To and Lady Baffled. Golden Rocket and main-track-only entrant Baby Man scratched.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.