A persistent drizzle put out My Little Dragon's fire tonight, and rival Darlins Delight romped to a six-length victory in the $405,000 Milton Stakes for pacing mares three and up, at Mohawk Racetrack.
Hana Hanover and Randy Waples struck the early lead through a first panel in :26.2, with longshot Soggy Britches (Steve Condren) racing in the pocket, while Darlins Delight, with Yannick Gingras at the lines, stalked the speed from fourth.
As the field made its way towards the midway point, Darlins Delight shifted gears and seized the lead, immediately opening up a two-length lead. Heavily favoured My Little Dragon (Brian Sears) was left without cover on the outside in third, and could not gain ground, while the wet footing was clearly to Darlins Delight's liking as she continued to eat up the track, stopping the timers in 1:50.4 with Hana Hanover trailing for second, and My Little Dragon settling for third.
Darlins Delight, a five-year-old by Bettors Delight out of Town Pro, is a homebred owned by the White Birch Farm of Allentown, New Jersey, and trained by Jeff Stafford. The victory, her fifth this year, will push her earnings well over the $2.5 million mark.
"It's been a tough week," said Gingras, whose grandfather Jean-Marc recently passed away. "I promised this one to my grandfather on Wednesday. So I'm glad he was here with me, giving us the little extra push we needed. She's a great mare.
"To be honest with you, before tonight all I wanted was to get somebody between me and My Little Dragon. I wanted to race (Darlins Delight) from behind, I think she's better from behind, but (tonight) pretty much everything here has been front-end speed, so (I decided) if we can get first-up and take our shot that way, that was the game plan.
"My Little Dragon has dominated a bit the last month and a half, but my mare's right behind her all the time. We got a better trip tonight. I don't think My Little Dragon is that much better than our mare, or that ours is much better than she is. Whoever gets the trip usually gets up to win."
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(WEG)