The Suncoast Stakes (KYO)- $150.000 Purse
TAM- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and Seventy Yards on the Dirt
February 11, 2023

Eleven fillies made their way to TAM for the Suncoast on Saturday, with most of them being quite inexperienced in running at the stake level or having success within it. The highest earner coming into the race was Lindt, who had made $119.900 in her career thus far. This would make her one of the top choices in the field, and she would be our pick to win. Lindt would back up our confidence in her with a solid looking victory, earning 20 points for the KYO. With the eight points she had attained previously, the Hippyheart filly now sits fourth on the leaderboard with still plenty of time to go. For Hippyheart, it is the trainer’s first career win in the Suncoast, and that is also true for jockey A Bocachica. Congratulations to them! The race was won in a time of 1:39.83, which is similar to other recent winning times of the race. Note that War Of The Roses ended up being a late scratch. Let’s take a look at how the race played out!

(1/4 Mile- :23.31)- So Blitz would jump out to the early lead down the frontstretch and around the opening turn. Arindel’s filly leads by about a full length over Mb Stables- trained Rekindle, who is running on the rail in the early going. Within a length and a half of our front runner, we have a group of three and one of them is our eventual winner from Hippyheart, Lindt. She’s in the fifth position right now though, because she is about a half length behind Hunterman Stable’s Laughing Witch and TwinTowersRacing’s Ruby Ridge. Stay In Order runs in the middle of the field in sixth for Nakamura Stables, and the other order, Partial Order (Alydar Stables) is next on the rail. A Touch Of Love (Mb Stables) is even with her, but a couple of lanes over. At the back, our trailers are Neon Red (Big Guns Stables) and A Lot To Like (Riggins Racing).

(1/2 Mile-: 47.04)- Moving down the backstretch, we do not see a lot of movement within the field as they are content to run in an orderly fashion. So Blitz is still the leader but Rekindle is not going to let her get away, staying within a length while still running on the rail. After a length and a half, we have the same group of three behind the leaders with Laughing Witch and Ruby Ridge side by side and Lindt within half a length. Stay In Order is next and may be thinking about a four wide move. Partial Order and A Touch Of Love make up the next row, with Neon Red and A Lot To Like still at the back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.6F To Go)- Running around the turn, So Blitz still seems to be in good shape and has not had any other challengers come her way other than Rekindle and she’s starting to win that battle by the time they hit the stretch. Laughing Witch is in good spot to pounce on the frontrunners from the outside while Lindt inches closer with the potential of coming right between the top two within the stretch. Ruby Ridge was starting to lose ground to them and Stay In Order was tiring out pretty quickly. Partial Order and A Touch Of Love were maintaining their pace but not making a move. Meanwhile, both Neon Red and A Lot To Like were showing more interest, and would take the rail and the outside lanes, respectively, to try and move through the field.

(Finish- 1:39.83)- With a furlong to go, So Blitz looked to be in good shape as no one was really making a hard charge on her that would be close enough to make a pass for the win. That would change approaching the wire, as Lindt suddenly began to cut into the lead quickly, much to the satisfaction of A Bocachica and Hippyheart. This move started just in time, because when they hit the wire, it was very close. In the photo, Lindt scored the win by a nose, making So Blitz fifth-place to settle for second. Third and fourth go to our initial trailers, as both A Lot To Like and Neon Red were strong in the stretch and take those two spots. Partial Order and A Lot To Like are credited with a fifth-place dead heat, beating Rekindle, Laughing Witch, Ruby Ridge and Stay In Order.

About The Winner- Lindt, trained by Hippyheart and ridden to victory by Hippyheart, is a three-year-old filly by Charley Sweetback and is out of Zamarata. She was bred by Hippyheart in California as a yearling, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her third in seven starts, and it is her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $209.900.

Track: Fast
Time: :23¹  :47   1:11   1:39⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 10 Paid 31.80
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 10 – 11 Paid 366.70

Scratched: War Of The Roses(L)

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded