Snug Harbour doesn't keep it close this time

MIAMI - Snug Harbour, who had won her last three starts by margins of a nose, a neck, and a head, finally spared the suspense on Saturday by running away to an easy 8 1/2-length victory in Calder's $100,000 .

Snug Harbour, a 3-year-old daughter of Boston Harbor, was sent right to the lead by red-hot jockey Eddie Castro after breaking alertly in the 1 1/16-mile Office Queen. She set moderate fractions of 24.36 seconds, 48.17, and 1:13.05 over a good track while being chased by Crazy Caro. Snug Harbour readily disposed of her early pursuer to open a comfortable lead entering the stretch, then extended her advantage while kept under pressure to the end.

Leona's Knight raced close to the pace throughout and easily ran past the tiring Crazy Caro to finish second by 2 3/4 lengths. Crazy Caro was more than five lengths clear of fourth-place finisher Babaganush. The David Brownlee-trained entry of Wise Briana and Dansetta Light finished fifth and sixth and were never factors as the even-money favorites in a field of seven 3-year-old fillies.

Snug Harbour is trained by Rodolgo Garcia for owner/breeder Peter Vegso and paid $8.20 as the second choice in the Office Queen. Her final time was 1:47.77.

The victory was the fifth straight and first stakes success for Snug Harbour, who twice ran for claiming prices earlier this year.

"She had some minor problems at first," said Garcia, "but we fixed that then took advantage of her bad form to run her for a $50,000 claiming tag."

"That helped get her confidence back and she's gotten better and better. She doesn't need the lead but probably wants to be close up. She's now won at six furlongs, a mile, and on grass, so we've got plenty of options to look for."