Wasted Tears wins seventh straight in Mabee

DEL MAR, Calif. - Wherever she has gone, Wasted Tears has left a trail of tears. From Texas to Oklahoma, Florida to Kentucky, she has left her rivals heartbroken. She conquered another frontier, and did it in typical fashion, on Sunday at Del Mar, when she held on through a thrilling stretch drive to take the Grade 2, $250,000 John C. Mabee Stakes for older female turf horses.

Wasted Tears ($4.20), the favorite, had Lilly Fa Pootz bearing down on her from the outside and Gotta Have Her charging up the rail, but she would not let either by. Wasted Tears won a narrow photo finish over Lilly Fa Pootz to prevail by a nose, with Gotta Have Her another half-length back in third.

Princess Haya was fourth and was followed, in order, by Turning Top, Gozzip Girl, and Spring Style.

Wasted Tears completed 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:47.35.

The win was the seventh straight for Wasted Tears, her 11th in 16 lifetime starts, and her 11th in 14 grass races. Rajiv Maragh, visiting Del Mar for the first time in his career, was aboard for Bart Evans, who bred, owns, and trains Wasted Tears.

“She kind of waits on horses,” Maragh said. “She likes them breathing down her neck.”

Wasted Tears, starting from the rail, led through fractions of 23.78 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.09 for a half-mile while shadowed by Spring Style. She disposed of that rival after six furlongs in 1:12.11, then flew through the final three furlongs in
35.24.

Wasted Tears has won five graded stakes races during her win streak, including the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Evans said he likely would return to Keeneland in October for the First Lady, because “I’d love to get her a Grade 1 win.”