Captiva Island ($100.000 Purse)
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Five Furlongs on the Turf
March 11, 2023

Trippi Sprinkle came into the Captiva Island looking to win her third straight Captiva Island, but it would be another horse looking to win three in a row, Point Of Honor, that would get the job done. Point Of Honor came into the race not only with wins in her last two starts, but with five victories in her last eight races. The type of races that she was doing it in were very similar to the conditions of this race, so she seemed like a pretty safe bet. She would go off at odds of 4/1, a pretty good price considering how good she looked going into it. Point of Honor was our second pick as we opted for Point Of Honor, though the post time favorite, surprisingly, was Empirical. After five furlongs here in the Captiva Island, the High Voltage filly would score her sixth win in nine starts, and the first such victory for the trainer and for jockey S X Bridgmohan. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was :56.69, the third quickest in the race’s history. Here’s a look at how it happened!

(1/4 Mile- :22.31)- As she typically does, Point Of Honor starts well and jumps out to the early lead for High Voltage, but she does have some company right beside her in form of First Flight Stable’s Tapioca Pudding for the run down the backstretch. Empirical is close by to these two, running in a three wide position for Avenue Z but is about a length behind. The two-time defending champion of the race, Trippi Sprinkle runs in the middle of the field for Mb Stables, while the remaining three are only a length behind her. From inside to outside, they consist of The Great Enabler (Hawaiian Shirt Guy), Misty Isles (Maxmillion Farm), and Happy Beat (Two Hearts One Love).

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Around the turn and moving into the stretch, Point Of Honor looks like a horse that knows how to go wire to wire as she maintains her strong stride. Tapioca Pudding is doing a good job keeping up with her, and at the top of the stretch is still directly alongside. Empirical lost a little ground to them but is still in striking range. A little further back. The Great Enabler is preparing to make a pass on Trippi Sprinkle and begin a bigger push towards the front. Misty Isles has not made a push yet and Happy Beat is only losing more ground.

(Finish- :56.69)- The battle at the front between Point Of Honor and Tapioca Pudding looks like it could go either way until we reach a furlong to go. At that point, Point Of Honor begins to pull away, but her work is not done. The Great Enabler is in good stride further back, but you have to wonder if she had conceded too much ground at this point. Point Of Honor never let up at any point, running strong to the wire as she typically does, and she would get the win over The Great Enabler with a final margin that might look like it was closer than it really was. Tapioca Pudding hangs on for third over Trippi Sprinkle as Empirical is passed late to fall to fifth. Misty Isles and Happy Beat round it out.

About The Winner- Point of Honor, trained by High Voltage and ridden to victory by S X Bridgmohan, is a five-year-old mare by Lil Pink Panther and is out of Q E 2. She was bred by Two Hearts One Love as a third quarter two-year-old in California and was purchased in private sales when she was still unraced in July 2020 for $29.970. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her tenth in 29 starts and her sixth stake win. Her career earnings improve to $569.320.

Track: Firm
Time: :22¹  :45   :56³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 3 Paid 41.70
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 3 – 4 Paid 271.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded