Las Cienegas Stakes (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
January 9, 2022

Heading into the Las Cienegas Stakes, there were two horses in the field that could be categorized as regular sprinters. The others were cutting back from the type of distance that they had been running recently. Perhaps it should not come as much of a surprise that one of those two horses ended up winning this race (and the other finished second). What was unexpected was that Lady Of Lord, trained by Our Athletes, was made the longest shot on the board despite being a turf sprinter for most of her career. She also had won her last two races, so the concern was likely her moving up into the stakes ranks. Over her career, she had got a handful of opportunities to run at this level, but she never was able to step up. In the Las Cienegas Stakes, Lady Of Lord would finally step up, and earned the win over Cassandra G. It’s the first win in the race for both Our Athletes, and the jockey, J R Velazquez. Congratulations to them! The winning time was 1:12.65, one of the better winning times when the race was run at this distance. Let’s take a look at it!

(¼ Mile; :22.57)- All By Myself takes the early lead, but the TwinTowersRacing filly is not all by herself at the front as Point Of Honor runs right to her inside for High Voltage. After them, our two professional sprinters do the stalking, with the eventual winner out of Our Athletes and Cassandra G, running for Angelos Stable only being a length and a half or so from the lead. It’s only one more length to Phoe Eva, also from Angelos Stable, so early on in the race, there is not anyone who has been left far behind.

(½ Mile- :44.42)- Continuing down the downhill, All By Myself is able to put a little bit of distance on Point Of Honor, as she now leads by a length. Point Of Honor still seems to be running well along the inside. Next up, both Lady Of Lord and Cassandra G continue to match one another’s stride as they run in the middle of the field, and about two and a half lengths from the leader. Phoe Eva still trails, but is only one length further back.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Moving into the stretch, All By Myself is doing a good job out in front, and is now pulling away even more from Point Of Honor. That one is struggling now, and is seeing both Lady Of Lord and Cassandra G pull up to her outside as they prepare to go by. Between them, there is not much separation as up until now they have really run a very similar race. Each of them seemed to be in a great position. That same could not be said for Phoe Eva as that one still was not making any sort of move.

(Finish- 1:12.65)- With a furlong to go, Lady Of Lord began to look just a little bit quicker with every stride than Cassandra G, and this would allow her to pull away from that one. There was still the matter of getting around All By Myself, as that one was showing some fight, but would not be able to withstand this challenge. Closing in on the wire, Lady Of Lord had moved into the lead, and there was no one else for her to worry about as she earns her third consecutive win! Cassandra G continued to run well to the wire, too, and completes the exacta with All By Myself getting third. Point Of Honor and Phoe Eva round it out.

About The Winner- Lady Of Lord, trained by Our Athletes and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a five year old mare by Lord High Admiral, and is out of Childe Of Niagra. She was bred in Kentucky by Our Athletes as a first quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout! Congratulations to the connections! The win is her ninth in 20 starts, and her first stake win! Her career earnings are now $328.560.

Track: Firm
Time: :22²  :44²  1:06⁴  1:12³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 5 Paid 35.50
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 5 – 3 Paid 69.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES