Trini Brewnette arrived in the final stride to collar Neshama and win a thrilling renewal of Saturday’s $125,400 South Ocean Stakes, at Woodbine.
Trained by Dan Vella for owner Derek Chin, Trini Brewnette arrived at the 1 1/16-mile ‘Poly’ route for Ontario-sired juvenile fillies from a disappointing eighth-place effort when sprinting in the Muskoka Stakes. The Milwaukee Brew bay, a winner on debut, more than made amends in the South Ocean with a tremendous turn of foot while making her first trip around two-turns.
Neshama set the early pace in the South Ocean with Audacious Bear pressing her early foot in front of the stalking duo of Battle Castle and Zermatta through an opening quarter in :24.62. Audacious Bear, with Gary Boulanger up, took command down the back straight with Neshama content to take back to fourth as the half-mile ticked off in :48.96.
Audacious Bear led the field to the final turn as Trini Brewnette, last of nine through three-quarters of a mile, launched her bid from the back. A resurgent Neshama, with leading rider Eurico Rosa da Silva up, angled off the rail for the stretch run and took a seemingly insurmountable lead, but Trini Brewnette, under left-handed encouragement from Garcia, switched leads and kicked home for a narrow nose score. Audacious Bear stayed on to complete the triactor. Trini Brewnette covered 1 1/16-miles in 1:47 flat.
Garcia, in his first full season at Woodbine, leads all riders with 18 stakes wins on the meet. He credited Vella for providing excellent pre-race instructions.
“He (Vella) told me to take a little back and save all the ground I can, and when it comes times to go, push the button and she’ll give you all she has,” said Garcia.
For Vella, the victory marked the first added-money score of the season and also his first victory in the South Ocean. Vella was pleased with the effort from the talented two-year-old, and was full of praise for Garcia.
“She trains like a filly with a big run and if you ask her too much early she can flatten out a bit. She likes to make that big, solid run. Being a lanky Milwaukee Brew, that’s kind of her style,” said Vella. “I was worried we might be too far back, but Alan is very modest, guys like him just keep showing up in the winner’s circle for big races. They do things the right way. When you have confidence in your rider it helps.”
Trini Brewnette banked $75,000 in victory while improving her record to two wins from three starts.
She paid $17.30, $8.10 and $5.60, combining with Neshama ($3.70, $3.10) for an $86.90 (6-2) exactor. A 6-2-5 triactor (Audacious Bear, $3.60 to show) was worth $371.20, while a $1 Superfecta [6-2-5-3 (Perfect Ella)] came back $796.
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