Showing that a little experience can go a long way, Bruce and Mary Alexander’s Western Dame rebounded from a break in her career debut to post a resounding five and a quarter-length romp over seven other Illinois-conceived and foaled two-year-old pacing fillies in 1:57.1 in Thursday’s $12,000 My Metallica Stake at Maywood Park.
Storming up first over from fourth as 1-5 favourite April May Dune (driven by Brian Carpenter) rolled through opening splits of :27.4 and :58.2, a confident Casey Leonard swept up to grab command with Western Dame as the field headed by the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:28.
The issue was never in doubt from that point on, as the daughter of Sagebrush-Dixie Dame began to put daylight between herself and the rest of the field. She paced home in :29.1 to secure her maiden-breaking score.
Ineverkissandtell (Ronnie Gillespie) turned a perfect ground-saving trip into a second-place finish, while Party Hangover Two (John De Long) finished third.
Sent off at odds of 9-1 after that troubled trip in her debut, the Gary Rath-trained miss returned $21.80, $7.00 and $4.40 across the board to her backers.
(Maywood)