Live Oak Plantation’s Let It Ride Mom edged out favourite Moonlit Promise at the wire to win the $125,000 Whimsical Stakes (Grade 3) on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack.
Woodbine’s first graded stakes of the 2018 meet went to the Mark Casse trainee in a photo finish with Patrick Husbands aboard.
Let It Ride Mom raced behind rivals mid-pack as Woodbine newcomer Jessica Krupnick burst to the lead in the six-furlong sprint for females and clocked opening fractions of :22.76 and :45.27 with Silent Sonet and 7-5 favourite Moonlit Promise looming outside. Down the stretch, Moonlit Promise battled on, but Let It Ride Mom came through late to prevail by a head in 1:08.96, with Scotty’s Model rallying outside to finish a half-length back in third. Jessica Krupnick ended up fourth and Silent Sonet rounded out the top five finish order.
“She left the gate running and I didn’t want to leave because she’s shown in her form that she likes to run at horses,” said Husbands after the race. “Down the lane, I was just looking for any little break through and it unfolded right and we got there.
“They’re two good fillies and you can’t take anything away from them. Every time they come out, they give you 110 [per cent], but at the end of day, a win is a win and I’m happy to win for Mark and the owners and everybody so I’ll keep smiling.”
It didn’t take 10-time Sovereign Award-winning trainer Casse long to pick up his first stakes victory of the 2018 meet after earning a meet-leading 18 stakes wins last season.
Let It Ride Mom, who made her four-year-old debut a winning one in the Whimsical, has shown an affinity to the Woodbine oval in the past, beaten by no more than a neck here. Bred in Kentucky by Tim Thornton, Robert Watt, Doug Glass and Greg Foley, the daughter of Into Mischief and Golden Marlin has earned more than $260,000 in purses and has won four of her 11 career starts, including last year’s La Lorgnette Stakes over 1-1/16 miles.
“She ran great, she’s a lovely filly,” said assistant trainer Kathryn Sullivan. “We’ve always really liked her and she just loves this track. She does great on this track so we’re really happy.”
Sent postward as the 7-2 second choice on the toteboard, Let It Ride Mom paid $9.30, $4.30 and $3. She combined with Moonlit Promise ($2.70, $2.20) for a 5-8 exacta worth $30.70. A $1 trifecta of 5-8-6 (Scotty’s Model, $2.50) paid $60.20 and a $1 superfecta of 5-8-6-1 (Jessica Krupnick) returned $510.10. Silent Sonet, Sky Flower, Just Be Kind and Sugar Jones completed the field.
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