Falls City Handicap (Grade 3)- $500.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 24, 2022

There is no denying that Shining Moments is a great horse that has had a great career. Her recent form, however, did not excite, and this led to her being considered a longshot for the race, at odds close to 19/1. She would not be one of our picks as others seemed to be positioned better for a strong outing on Thanksgiving in the Falls City Handicap. Shining Moments, however, had other ideas, returning to the main track after a recent stretch on the grass, and scoring a big win. If you look at her last two dirt race now, you have to wonder if she’ll even return to the turf in the near future. For now, trainer RNP Stables will savor the victory, which is both his and jockey A R Rodriguez’s first in the race. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:47.93. Only the late Malfunkshun had a better time in the stake, coming in 2012. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/2 Mile- :47.59)- Out of the gate, the Nakamura Stables-trained Sister Crespi battles with D J C Racing Stables’ Venezia for the early lead. Once completing the front stretch portion and moving into the opening turn, Sister Crespi would emerge as the faster of the two and ultimately opens up a one length lead over that one prior to reaching the back stretch. In the middle of the field, Smokey Stover’s Neon Moon and Arindel’s Forever Phooey Party are stalking the leader, about two to two and a half lengths from the lead. Our eventual winner, the RNP Stables’ trained Shining Moments is unhurried in the early going, and is content to hold the rail, running in the fifth position. Only Drilldownfortruth (TwinTowersRacing) is behind her at this point.

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.33)- It’s all Sister Crespi down the back stretch and into the turn. No one is posing a challenge to her now, and this gives her close to a two length lead at the top of the turn. The longest shot on the board, Venezia, is having a hard time keeping up and now beings to fall back. This would give the second position to Neon Moon, and midway into the turn, we would begin to see her start to creep forward. Forever Phooey Party ran third, also inching a little closer, but not looking like as much of a threat as Neon Moon was. Shining Moments continued to run in the fifth position, but she was now side by side with the tiring Venezia. It was about three more lengths to Drilldownfortruth.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Moving into the top of the stretch, Sister Crespi was still the leader, but looking vulnerable to the others in the field. The first one looking to get by would be Neon Moon, who continued to make progress on her throughout the turn and was now essentially side by side for the lead. Others had closed the gap as well, and Shining Moments was certainly one of them. She was now within a length, and had a nice gap staring at her in the face to simply come on through between horses for the stretch run. Forever Phooey Party was still very much in the picture here, but due to taking the wide lane around the track, she had a tougher task in front of her. Venezia was dropping back, and Drilldownfortruth was simply not gaining ground.

(Finish- 1:47.93)- Very early on in the stretch, Neon Moon looked solid, but soon it became very clear that Shining Moments was thrilled to have dirt, and not turf, underneath her, quickly pulling up to the side of Neon Moon and then emphatically pulling away in the closing moments of the race to earn the big, two length win! It was the same two length distance between Neon Moon and third place Forever Phooey Party, with Sister Crespi settling for fourth, ahead of Venezia and the complete non factor, Drilldownfortruth.

About the Winner- Shining Moments, trained by RNP Stables and ridden to victory by A R Rodriguez, is a four year old filly by Creepy Time and is out of Outshined. She was bred in New York as a third quarter two year old by RNP Stables, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her ninth in 26 starts, her seventh stake win and fourth graded win. Her career earnings are now $1,650.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :47²  1:11¹  1:35³  1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 95.60
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 4 Paid 991.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES