Jewels Forreal made an inauspicious local debut in the Fillies and Mares Open two weeks ago at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The four-year-old daughter of So Surreal caused interference with a rival in her first start against the top lady pacers at Saratoga Casino Hotel a couple weeks back.
The Kyle Spagnola trainee avenged that disappointing first local start with a victory last week in the $12,500 Winners Over for fillies and mares when she scored in an impressive 1:53.2. On Thursday afternoon, with Frank Coppola, Jr. in the sulky, Jewels Forreal moved out to the early lead in the $15,000 Open and she never looked back.
The public’s 6-5 betting favourite never faced an anxious moment en route to her wire-to-wire win in 1:53, the fastest time for a distaffer at the Spa thus far this year. Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) sat the pocket to the winner and finished as the runner-up while Sally Fletcher A (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) had to settle for third.
Jewels Forreal, the daughter of back-to-back Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year (2007-2008) at Saratoga, Dandys Jewel, enjoyed a six-figure campaign in 2018 behind five wins. The mare already has two wins on her card in ’19 after the Thursday score in the feature.
Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a 6:45 p.m. first post.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)