Splendora dazzles in dominant Molly Pitcher victory
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Heavy rain led to a delay shortly before the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park, but the elements could only hold back Splendora so long. The reigning Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner dominated six rivals on the front end and pulled clear by 5 1/2 lengths.
Jockey Flavien Prat, who guided Knightsbridge home to an 10 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup, was just as much a passenger aboard Splendora in his third straight victory on the Haskell Day card. On a sealed track designated as fast, the Bob Baffert-trained mare never looked back.
“She has never seen it sloppy before, but she handled it well,” Prat said. “She’s a Breeders’ Cup winner, a multiple Grade 1 winner. She has proven that she is very talented. She has won graded stakes at one turn and two turns. With the surface, I felt I wanted to get her running to the first turn and make the lead and get her into a good rhythm. That was the game plan and that’s what happened.”
Baffert, who watched the race in Kentucky and spoke to officials at Monmouth on the phone after the race, said he had his doubts shortly before post time.
“She does not like mud,” Baffert said. “I’m in Kentucky and I almost didn’t run her because of the mud. I was waiting for that break. The track was so beautiful earlier and I was hoping it wouldn’t rain, and then the rain came. It wasn't really muddy. But she does not like to get her feet wet. She’s funny about that.”
Baffert, who lamented that he did not have a Haskell runner this year, stuck it out through the conditions and still took advantage of the offerings in New Jersey. Splendora entered the Molly Pitcher with six victories in her last seven starts and in her second straight start at 1 1/16 miles, the reigning champ overwhelmed six older female rivals, paying $2.60 to win.
Prat, who coaxed the 5-year-old mare through an opening quarter-mile in 23.88 seconds and a half-mile in 47.36, was always at least 1 1/2 lengths clear of stalking contenders Alpine Princess and Dry Powder, both of whom faded in the late stages. The pacesetter was never in any trouble and eased away at the end.
Last-out listed stakes winners Lost Horizon and Nerazurri both rallied from the back to take second and third by open lengths over the rest of the field. The Chad Brown-trained filly Lost Horizon held by three-quarters of a length over Nerazurri for Mark Casse, who finished 7 1/4 lengths ahead of the next finisher.
In the past year, Splendora has only had one poor effort, when she faded to fourth in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs in May. Prat, who rode her that day and in two winning starts since, did not have an explanation for that defeat, but she has done a great deal since to shake it off. She finished the 1 1/16-mile distance at Monmouth in 1:44.75.
“She just wasn’t herself [in the Derby City Distaff],” Prat said. “She came back and ran a great race at Churchill [in the Grade 2 Shawnee on May 30]. She’s been very consistent. It’s just one where you draw a line through it.”
Baffert offered little for Splendora’s next start, simply stating that she will return to Churchill Downs and run at either Keeneland or Saratoga next time out. He also did not say which Breeders’ Cup race he plans to target in October. A return to the Filly and Mare Sprint is always feasible, but after two straight route victories, she would certainly earn attention in the Distaff as well.
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