Though Sister Sledge opened her lead around the final turn, the buffer did not deter even-money favourite Senorita Rita as she ranged uncovered towards the tempo setter and reached the front at the finish to take the $475,100 Goldsmith Maid Final on Saturday, Nov. 23.
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Queen Of The Hill left for the front but yielded command to Sister Sledge trotting to a :28 first quarter. Senorita Rita raced third but did not angle from the pylons until the field passed the half in :56.4. Sister Sledge kicked away from Queen Of The Hill circling the final turn while Senorita Rita slowly gained ground towards three-quarters in 1:25.1.
Through the stretch Sister Sledge maintained command while Senorita Rita drew closer but the 7-5 second choice could not hold the lead in the final strides. Senorita Rita stopped the clock in a career-best 1:53 with a head up on Sister Sledge. Hall Of Am S finished third with Common Sense S fourth.
“[Sister Sledge] got a great jump on me at the three-quarter pole and it felt like an insurmountable deficit to make up,” Zeron said after the race. “But when I straightened up and my filly corrected I pulled the plugs and she went into orbit. It was a matter of ‘Where’s that wire?’ because I had to maintain her speed. As long as I did that I thought I’d get up.”
Winning her sixth race from eight starts, Senorita Rita has earned $421,985 for owner Kenneth Jacobs, who planned to have his filly lightly raced coming into the late-season stakes.
“I went soft on her,” Jacobs said after the race. “I let her get her feet underneath her and brought her back slow because we were looking for these races. I didn’t want to go into the Breeders Crown and all that, so I said ‘Let’s take the later races. We’ll get our piece out of there’ and that’s what we did. It’s nice to have a fresh filly this time of year.”
Senorita Rita paid $4.20 to win.