Spirit Wind holds off Fibber in Poinsettia Stakes
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Spirit Wind closed out a significant year of racing on Saturday when she shuttled to a three-quarter-length win over Fibber in the $150,000 Poinsettia at Oaklawn Park.
It was another half-length back in third to Royal Spa.
The Poinsettia was a 5 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares. There were five scratches from the race, leaving a final field of seven. One of the scratches, Girls Weekend, is entered back in an allowance Sunday at Oaklawn.
Spirit Wind ($4.80) broke with the field and was content to sit just off High Class and Asternia, who raced together through an opening quarter in 22.49 seconds and a half-mile in 46.27. Spirit Wind moved past the leaders from there under jockey Fernando Jara, and went on to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:04.28.
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“I thought she ran well,” winning trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “She broke well. Obviously, she broke a lot better [than last time]. Fernando was able to take her back as those two horses went on.”
The win was one of three stakes Joseph had Saturday, with his other two stakes victories coming at Gulfstream Park in the Sugar Swirl and Suwannee River.
Spirit Wind is a daughter of Bahamian Squall owned by Miller Racing. She has now won 8 of 16 starts for earnings of $729,590. Earlier this year, she became a Grade 2 winner in the Honorable Miss at Saratoga.
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