Eight Belles (Grade 2)- $500.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies Three Years Old
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
May 5, 2023

Everything seemed to be going great for Spring Street after she broke her maiden. She ran well in both the Forward Gal and the Honeybee, sending her on the path to potentially run in another race later on the card here on Friday at CD. But her last race, the Grade 3 Fantasy, was a disaster. Would she be able to rebound from that while racing in the Eight Belles? The post draw would not do her any favors, and she would begin the race at the back of the pack and well of the pace. With a powerful stretch run, Spring Street flew by her rivals, getting up just in time for a photo finish victory. She is trained by High Voltage and was ridden by D E Centeno. For each, it is their first win in the Eight Belles. Congratulations to them! The race was won in a time was 1:21.94, which is the third fastest in the history of the stake. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.16)- From the outside, there is no stopping Groovy as the Calia Stable filly quickly jumps out to a lead of about a length and a half. She’ll have three stalking her pace right behind her, with Arindel’s Dolly P being a neck in front of the other two. To her inside, it’s the Acber Farms trained entry, Victorious Secret, and three wide, we have Fire Artiste, who is from Alydar Stables. After a little more than a length, Sioux Flower runs fifth for Mb Stables, and then it’s Parade Leader, out of Fractious. In the middle of the field, a pair of Mb Stables horses, Points Of Grace and Siouxbiscuit run side by side. The next pair of horses features Ignore Tucker and Empire Sunset, each of whom are trained by Fractious. At the back of the pack is where we find our eventual winner, High Voltage’s Spring Street, and she has eight lengths to make up. Toppifiant, from Our Athletes, is keeping her company back there.

(1/2 Mile- :45.39, Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Groovy is still in a good position out on the lead for the duration of the backstretch trip and into the turn, but as we approached the exit of the turn, she was beginning to lose some of her pace. She would be caught for the lead by Dolly P, and things seemed good for this one as she was in the driver’s seat for the stretch run. Fire Artiste and Victorious Secret were inching a little closer to her as well, but I wouldn’t say that either of them was making much of a move at this point. Parade Leader was looking to get involved by following Dolly P through on the inside, and Ignore Tucker was looking good along the outside. Sioux Flower, Siouxbiscuit, and Point Of Grace were all still in the middle of the field, and Spring Street completed a pass of Empire Sunset though we had not seen her begin her push as of yet. Toppifiant was now by herself at the rear of the field.

(Finish- 1:21.94)- Things begin to tighten up at the front, but the one’s to watch were coming from behind. Not just Spring Street either, as Siouxbiscuit moved five wide and seemed to be in a good spot to gain ground in the stretch. However, checking out Spring Street was interesting, because she responded with an impressive bit of a run early in the stretch, and would now need to go six wide in order to pass the rest of the field. With a furlong and a half to go, she had to make up about 4-5 lengths, so it was doable, but she must maintain this powerful stride. Siouxbiscuit would likely be her biggest challenge. Getting closer to the wire, both Parade Leader and Fire Artiste were giving their all, and Victorious Secret was doing all she could to live up to her name, but now Spring Street was within three lengths. In the final strides, both she and Siouxbiscuit were flying, and in a photo, it would be Spring Street scoring a win while Siouxbiscuit settles for second. Third place Parade Leader was only beaten a neck, and both Fire Artiste and Victorious Secret were within a half-length of the win. Ignore Tucker, Dolly P, and Points Of Grace finish in the middle of the field with respectable efforts, if nothing else. Rounding out the running order, we have Toppifiant, Groovy, Empire Sunset, and Sioux Flower.

About The Winner- Spring Street, trained by High Voltage and ridden to victory by D E Centeno, is a three-year-old filly by Miles Per Gallon and is out of Limontata. She was bred by London Racing in California as a third quarter two-year-old and was acquired by High Voltage for $140.000 in an October 2022 private sale while she was still unraced. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her second in seven starts, and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $440.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :22   :45¹  1:09⁴  1:21⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 12 – 7 Paid 55.00
$1 Trifecta: 12 – 7 – 4 Paid 646.80

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES