Wet My Beak's late burst nails Elm Drive on wire in Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Making her stakes debut and first start on the hillside turf course, the longshot Wet My Beak caught favored Elm Drive in the final strides to win Friday’s Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Wet My Beak was ridden for the first time by Jose Ortiz, who had simple instructions from trainer Vladimir Cerin.
“He told me to stay out of trouble,” Ortiz said.
Wet My Beak closed from ninth in a field of 11 to reach contention in the final sixteenth. Ortiz said the 4-year-old Wet My Peak benefited from a fair pace of 22.18 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.05 for a half-mile set by 10-1 Brandon’smylawyer.
“She broke good and the pace was fast,” Ortiz said. “I felt like I had a lot of horse.”
Wet My Beak ($49.60) was sixth with a furlong remaining, trailing by 2 1/2 lengths, but closed steadily to win by a head over Elm Drive, the 2-1 favorite.
Wet My Beak ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:12.37, getting a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
Elm Drive looked like a winner in the stretch while closing on the rail but was caught.
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“She was all out,” jockey Flavien Prat said.
Brandon’smylawyer held third, followed by Rose Maddox, White Moonlight, Unbridled Mary, Benedict Canyon, Freedom Flyer, Can’t Buy Love, Playlist, and Stoic Luna.
Wet My Beak, owned by Thelma & Louis Stable, won for the third time in her sixth start in the $153,000 Ken Maddy. A 4-year-old filly by Union Rags, Wet My Beak has earned $176,988.
Wet My Beak had her first three starts for Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds and trainer Graham Motion in Maryland in 2022. Wet My Beak was off for more than 14 months before she started for the first time for Cerin and the current owners at Del Mar on Aug. 31, winning an allowance race.
Wet My Beak was a troubled third as the 2-1 favorite in an allowance race at six furlongs here on Oct. 6 in a prep for the Maddy Stakes.
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