Living up to her name Brett Wilfong’s KFspictureperfect proved to be very photogenic on Sunday night at Balmoral Park as she trotted to a half-length victory in a career best of 1:58.2 while capturing the $43,300 final of the Violet Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies.
Biding her time near the back of the pack through the early stages driver Leroy Miller was in no hurry to mix it up as Fox Valley Sienna (David Avenatti) and Powerful Bella (Marcus Miller) knocked heads through opening splits of :29.4 and :59.3.
“She can be a little tough to get off the gate but she just relaxed and let me do what I wanted with her right from the start tonight,” said Miller. “I just backed her out of there and was more than happy to let Dale’s (Hiteman) horse (Fox Valley Click) settle in front of me because I thought she’d be able to lead us right up to where we wanted to be.”
Following the cover of the second choice in the race Miller had KFspictureperfect in good striking position, trotting along in fifth, as Powerful Bella and Merry High (Mike Oosting) were battling tooth and nail on the front end as the field moved by the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:29.3.
As the field turned for home, the heavily-favoured Merry High grabbed command from a tiring Powerful Bella. At that point Miller had the Brett Wilfong trainee in high gear on the far outside of horses and the daughter of Armbro Tunnel--Kodac Funsaver was gobbling up ground with long powerful strides.
Quickly closing in on the favourite, KFspictureperfect swept by the public’s choice with a sixteenth of a mile to go and proceeded to draw away from her main rival to post her first career victory. Merry High held on for second while Powerful Bella was third.
After the victory Miller was quick to sing to praises of both KFspictureperfect and owner-trainer Brett Wilfong.
“Brett’s done a magnificent job with her from last year to this year,” explained Miller. “She can be a handful but from what’s Brett’s told me and the experience I’ve gained while driving her I think we’ve all learned more about just how talented this filly is. If she continues to progress like this I think she’s going to be a major factor all season long in this division.”
Overlooked in the wagering despite a strong third-place finish in the elimination last week, KFspictureperfect returned $23.60, $5.40 and $4.20 to her backers while running her career earnings up to $31,727.
(Balmoral)