Turfway: Fortune Play outduels Waccamaw by head in Holiday Inaugural

Fortune Play, ridden by Ramon Vazquez, finally got the best of Waccamaw in a lengthy stretch duel Saturday night to post a head victory in the $50,000 Holiday Inaugural at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

Waccamaw dueled to the half-mile pole alongside Five Star Fun in the six-furlong Polytrack race before Fortune Play, widest of all, joined the fray. Those two had it to themselves the rest of the way, with Fortune Play proving narrowly best in notching her second stakes victory, and sixth overall, from 32 career starts. The 5-year-old Fortune Play finished in 1:11.62 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 84.

Owned and trained by Lexington-based Johnnie Booker, Fortune Play returned $18.40 as fourth choice in a field of 11 fillies and mares. Waccamaw, the 3-1 second choice under John McKee, was another 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Hyperlink, while Vanishing Grey, the 5-2 favorite, was never a threat in finishing eighth.

The Holiday Inaugural was the first of five stakes, all of them worth $50,000, at the holiday meet, which runs through Dec. 31. The three-month winter-spring meet begins Jan. 1.