Podges Lady zipped up the passing lane to nip pacesetter Destinys Chance at the wire in her sophomore debut in the $86,000 Courageous Lady Stakes on Saturday night at Northfield Park
.
Leaving from post two, driver Dave Palone put heavy 2-5 favourite Destinys Chance on top with inside assignee Podges Lady and Ryan Stahl getting a perfect pocket trip. Destinys Chance rolled through mild fractions of :27.4, :57.1 and 1:25.3 with Princess Cruiser and Kanye Kauffman advancing first over from fifth and Frontierpan (Mike Wilder) looking to go three-wide from second over into the stretch. Destinys Chance maintained her lead down the lane, but Podges Lady was full of late pace and closed well up the inside to prevail in 1:54.2. Princess Cruiser finished third.
The victory was the daughter of The Panderosa's biggest yet and was also one of Stahl's career highlights.
"Being from Ohio, I think I've won like six sires stakes championships, but this ranks right up there with the best of them," noted the 34-year-old reinsman after the victory. "When the draw came out it looked like we should get a good trip out of there. Everything worked out good. I didn't know if Dave's filly would get pressured enough early. I thought she would have a big kick coming home, but when I came to the passing lane this filly really responded. Off the cheap fractions I thought [Destinys Chance] would be tough to beat, but when this filly saw some air she really dug in."
"I couldn't ask for anything more," commented trainer Joe Seekman. "With a two-hole trip, she got things great."
Podges Lady put together a record reading 3-4-2 in 13 starts as a freshman, which included a track record 1:52.1 triumph at The Meadows in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. She banked $214,700 for owner Sawgrass Farms LLC of Lockport, Illinois.
This year she will focus on the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, but has a few stakes out of state on her radar including the Breeders Crown.
Podges Lady paid $12.80 to win as the 5-1 second choice.