Tiger Ride impresses in Ta Wee Stakes
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Trainer Graham Motion voiced concern Thursday about Tiger Ride’s wide draw in the $100,000 Ta Wee Stakes on Friday at Indiana Grand, but Mother Nature took care of that. Tiger Ride drew post 12, but heavy mid-card rain forced the Ta Wee from turf to dirt, which led to several scratches, moving Tiger Ride into post 8. Yet as dominant as the filly was in the Ta Wee, the starting gate from which she departed probably didn’t matter.
Making one early, wide move on the backstretch to get into contention, Tiger Ride finished off her foes in upper stretch with a final decisive run and skipped home to a five-length win over a sloppy, sealed track. Rachel’s Ready finished second, and Flying Tipat was third. The 7-5 favorite, Tiger Ride paid $4.80 to win and was timed in 1:42.78 for one mile 70 yards. Alex Cintron rode the winner, a daughter of Candy Ride, for owner and breeder Dixiana Farms.
Tiger Ride, making her first start for Motion, had finished a close third in her lone previous race on dirt, a one-turn Churchill mile last fall. She was trying a wet main track for the first time, and Motion, winning his first race in the state of Indiana, made the right call leaving her in after the Ta Wee was rained onto dirt.
Cara Marie and Bugle, the top two choices on the morning line, were among the scratches.
Richies Sweetheart wins Brandywine
Richies Sweetheart survived a speed duel and held on to win the $78,900 Brandywine Stakes by a half-length. Anusara, capitalizing on the race flow, closed from far back and finished second, with the stalking Kit One Purr another half-length back in third. The winner paid $4.80 as the favorite but triggered substantial exotic payoffs with price horses home second and third.
Trained by Larry Rivelli, the 4-year-old Richies Sweetheart won for the 11th time in 21 starts and has developed onto a very effective front-runner in turf sprints. On a course already called “good” and softened further by afternoon rain, Richies Sweetheart dueled with 5-1 chance Gift Choice through fractions of 21.73 and 45.44 seconds. Gift Choice backed up late and finished eighth, but Richies Sweetheart continued on gamely, stopping the timer in 58.71 for five furlongs on yielding ground.