Canadian invader Sangria Summer swooped onto the scene late from a prime stalking trip to foil hard-strung odds-on favourite Be Perfect BG and win the $171,111 Shady Daisy (Grade 3) for three-year-old pacing fillies in the final strides of a 1:48.1 mile to cap off Hambletonian Day stakes action on Saturday, Aug. 8 at The Meadowlands.
Leaving from post seven, driver James MacDonald pushed Sangria Summer forward and found a seat in third as 5-2 second choice Darlins Angel (Lauren Tritton) motored from the pylon post for the lead into a :26 first quarter. Be Perfect BG (Dexter Dunn) floated away fifth but decided to press forward up the rim and steadily marched to take the lead from Darlins Angel just before a :54.1 half.
Car Keys (Andrew McCarthy) edged out of third with a mild bid after the leader, tracked by Sangria Summer, while Be Perfect BG rolled through three-quarters in 1:21.4. Though the long early brush by the favourite showed its toll in the stretch when Darlins Angel ripped from the pocket and narrowed on the leader, with Sangria Summer gathering steam even wider. Darlins Angel hit the front briefly in late stretch and then Sangria Summer slid by for a head win with Be Perfect BG left in third.
“I know Serge Godin had bought her privately and they had high expectations of her,” MacDonald said after the race, “and if you’ve been following her in Canada – a lot of people might not have seen her – her last few races have just been fabulous. So I knew she was coming in pretty sharp. I was hoping I could work out some kind of a trip and I thought she’d give me a good run at the end.”
Luc Blais trains Sangria Summer, a daughter of Captaintreacherous-Shower Play, for Serge Godin’s Determination of Montreal, Que., which purchased this filly after the first start of her sophomore season from Ontario-based trainer Kevin Benn. Bred by Tara Hills Stud, Rene Dion, Susie Kerwood and Martin Leveillee, the filly collected her fourth win from 10 starts this season and her fifth win from 20 starts in her career, boosting her earnings over $300,000.
A runner-up in stakes action in the Nadia Lobell two starts ago at Scioto Downs, she paid $10.80 to win as the 4-1 third wagering choice.
Sangria Summer gave five-time Driver of the Year MacDonald his third straight graded stakes win on the Hambo Day card, following victories with Captain Albano in a division of the Sam McKee Memorial and Miki And Minnie in the Lady Liberty.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)