La Tia bounced off the rail in the stretch run, but jockey Justin Stein held on strong as the Grade 3 Arlington Oaks champion persevered to win the $153,500 La Lorgnette Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine.
The dark bay daughter of City Place-La Adelita, trained by Brian Williamson for owner Salvador Hernandez, took the field through splits of :25.16, :49.43 and 1:13.51 in the 1 1/16-mile ‘Poly’ route, and appeared to be home and cooled out only to duck in with an eighth of a mile to go and hit the rail.
The Illinois-bred filly, who captured the Arlington Oaks on July 21, lost her momentum long enough for Sky Dreamer to take the lead, but a resurgent La Tia re-rallied to score a 3/4-length victory. Sky Dreamer held on for place in front of stable mate Sky High Lady. La Tia stopped the clock in 1:46.14.
Stein was impressed with his filly’s resilience through the eventful stretch run.
“She just ducked from my stick,” explained Stein. “She’s a real athletic horse. She leaped up in the air and decided going over the rail probably wasn’t a good idea. She landed and persevered.”
The veteran rider admitted to being in awe of La Tia’s ability to recover her momentum in the late stages.
“She was really impressive,” said Stein. “She dug back in and I can’t believe she re-rallied like that at that point of the race.”
La Tia banked $90,000 for her winning performance, while improving her record to four wins and a third from eight lifetime starts.
She paid $6.50, $3 and $2.90, combining with Sky Dreamer ($4.10, $2.60) for a $16.10 (2-1) exactor. A 2-1-3 (Sky High Lady, $4.30 to show) triactor was worth $107.10.
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
