Ladies Marathon (Grade 3)- $1,000.000 Purse
KD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and Five Sixteenths on the Turf
September 7, 2024

Perhaps it needs to happen when the race is of a longer distance like the Ladies Marathon, but it is very rare to get a four-length winner in our game in a $1,000.000 race when it was not an off track. This was the case on Saturday in the Ladies Marathon, when Lady Hilltopper left them in the dust in the stretch for the comfortable win. She follows the lead of Stinky Rene, who won this race after winning the Beverly D, so who knows, maybe we will see her in the Taylor Stakes next month to try and continue that trend. The mare is trained by Black N Gold Stable, who wins the Ladies Marathon for the first time, as does jockey J R Velazquez. Congratulations to them! The winning race time was 2:04.63, which is a new stake record. Let’s take a look at it:

(½ Mile- :47.34)- From the outside, Tapioca Pudding jumps out to the race lead for Mb Stables and will hold a length and a half advantage in the early moments. D Souza runs second by herself for TwinTowersRacing, a length ahead of her third-place stablemate, Shes So Pure. Behind them, we find our eventual race winner from Black N Gold Stable, Lady Hilltopper, running fourth on the rail. She was also both the post time favorite for the race as well as being our pick to win. Running beside her, it’s Shining At Knight, for Our Athletes, then a length to Horing Gal (Night Rider Stables). Next up come November Storm (Mb Stables) and Sneaky Panther (Nakamura Stables), and the trailers are Beaucucamonga (Mo Mentum Farm) and Afar (D J C Racing Stables).

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.38)- There is no change out front, as Tapioca Pudding is still by herself out in front, and she leads by about two lengths over D Souza, who continues to run in second. However, as we hit the top of the final turn, we see Lady Hilltopper getting a lot more interested as she comes off the rail and passes Shes So Pure while positioning herself nicely to do the same the D Souza. Shining At Knight, who had been running with her earlier, is no longer doing so but still runs fifth. Horing Gal, November Storm, and Sneaky Panther are in the pack, and it’s a couple lengths now to the trailers, which are still Beaucucamonga and Afar.

(Top of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Lady Hilltopper is able to get around D Souza easily, before they even reach the midway point of the turn, and she makes progress quickly on Tapioca Pudding who continued to lead the way. By the time they reached the top of the stretch, Lady Hilltopper was showing that she came to play today and had not only passed Tapioca Pudding but had pulled away from her by about a length and a half. Tapioca Pudding is still second, and it gets tight for third as November Storm makes a move on the outside and now runs evenly with D Souza and Shes So Pure. Shining At Knight is trying to stay with the pack, and Sneaky Panther is looking for room to run. Afar has advanced from the back and takes a wide trip into the stretch. Horing Gal had enough, and Beaucucamonga still lagged behind.

(Finish- 2:04.63)- Lady Hilltopper was not content with just taking the lead and continues to impress in the stretch as she pulls away from the rest of the competition to win by four lengths. Getting up for second, it would be November Storm holding off Afar as the two of them both were strong in the stretch while making their moves on the outside. It could have been a much bigger rout for Lady Hilltopper if not. It’s three lengths from them to fourth place Sneaky Panther, who finished seven lengths behind the winner. Everyone else looks like an also ran on this day, as the rest of the order will read: Beaucucamonga, Tapioca Pudding, Shes So Pure, Shining At Knight, D Souza, and Horing Gal.

About The Winner- Lady Hilltopper, trained by Black N Gold Stable and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a five-year-old mare by Pinnacle West and is out of P O A. She was bred as a third quarter two-year-old in Kentucky by Our Athletes, and was acquired by Black N Gold Stable with a $14.000 claim in February 2022, in what was her third career start. She now has twelve wins in 27 starts, and ten stake wins, all of which are graded. Her career earnings are now $2,026.580.

Track: Firm
Time: :47¹  1:11¹  1:35³  2:04³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 6 Paid 50.10
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 6 – 8 Paid 451.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES