Unbeaten filly Music Please 3 for 3 after taking Squan Song
The 3-year-old filly Music Please remained undefeated while stepping up to face stakes company for the first time when she came from off the pace to overtake 7-5 favorite Heaven’s Voice to win Saturday’s $50,000 Squan Song Stakes at Laurel Park.
Ridden by Eric Camacho for trainer Rodney Jenkins, Music Please ($9.80) made a late move to overtake Heaven’s Voice by three-quartrers of a length while covering the seven furlongs in 1:25. My Misty’s Echo finished third as the 2-1 second choice in a field of six Maryland-bred fillies and mares, all seeking their first stakes win.
Jenkins said he felt six furlongs was too short for Music Please, so he wanted a slightly longer race for her career debut on Oct. 20. She came back at the same distance against open first-level allowance company on Nov. 12 because Jenkins wanted to prep her for the Squan Song.
“Now we’ll definitely stretch her out,” said Jenkins, without mentioning a specific target for Music Please’s next start.
Camacho, who has been aboard for all three of her victories, said Music Please has developed rapidly.
“She started out as a big, gangly filly,” Camacho said. “Her maturity has come a long way. We had a great pace going into it. I just got her to relax. I started to get after her around the turn. Today she just sprinted right by [Heaven’s Voice] in the last 60 yards.”