Harlequin Ranches Jacally defeated Dancing Raven by a neck in a thrilling renewal of Saturday’s $125,000 Eternal Search Stakes at Woodbine.
The 1 1/16-mile contest was the second time in a month that the daughter of Bold Executive prevailed by less than a length in an added-money Ontario-Sired event. On July 21, the Roger Attfield trainee won the Passing Mood by a nose.
In the Eternal Search, her first two-turn try, Jacally was pressured early from Aneena and Golden Girl Sue, through fractions of :23.80, :48.38 and 1:13.36. Dancing Raven rallied on the second turn, angled to the outside and boldly put pressure on the favorite, but Jacally found more and outgamed her rival to the wire. Venus Bay made a serious wide move on the second turn, but drifted out badly just past the quarter pole. She stayed on for third. Jacally covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.80.
“Since the beginning, I had pressure,” said winning rider Eurico Rosa da Silva. “She wasn’t very relaxed the first quarter. After that, she relaxed. At the eighth pole, she started looking at the (parked starting) gate. She was seeing that for the first time. She was a little bit scared.”
Even though the three-year-old filly was startled, da Silva said he had something left. “I had horse,” he said. “I was waiting for another horse to come, so she could kick on again. When (Dancing Raven) came to her, she took off again. She ran a brilliant race.”
Jacally improved her record to 3-for-6 with $211,830 in earnings.
Jacally returned $3.90, $2.70 and $2.20, combining with Dancing Raven ($3.80, $2.90) for a $12.30 exactor. Venus Bay ($2.90) rounded out a triactor worth $42. A $1 superfecta returned $96.95.
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