The South Beach- $100.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Seven and a Half Furlongs on the Inner Turf
December 12, 2015

There have been many great winners of The South Beach, and if the 2015 winner, Coldwater Creek, continues on the streak that she is currently on, we will be talking about her in the same way in the future.  It took this filly longer then the trainer may have liked to break her maiden, but all of that has proven to be worthwhile.  Once she finally learned how to visit the winner’s circle after a race, she has never done anything but win.    I expected her to be a contender in this race, but I really needed to see what she did today in order to really believe in her.   In her win, Coldwater Creek not only set a new record for the stake, but her winning time of 1:26.79 is a new track record for GP.    Though, I was tempted to research even beyond the fact that she set a GP record, and did a search for simply the distance and surface, at any track, since HRP began (for a filly).  Coldwater Creek’s time is the fastest ever for a filly at this distance on the turf.  Ever.  Anywhere.  Congratulations to Whitewater Stables, who must have his imagination running wild right now on just how far this filly might be able to go.   It was the first win in the stake for the trainer, as well as jockey J C Caraballo.  Let’s take a deeper look at this record setting performance.

1st- 5- Coldwater Creek (2/1)- Our eventual race winner was content to trail the field early in the race for Whitewater Stables.  J C Caraballo opted to spot the leader about four lengths while settling for a position in the second lane for the opening run around the turn.  During the backstretch, she would still be last but always in close proximity to the pack, so it was not as if she ever had to make a deep close.  It was in the turn that she began to make her move, possibly with some motivation to do so from Czarina of Moscow, who was to her inside and also wanting to come off the rail to make a move.  These two seemed to have brief territorial battle before it worked out for them both as they exit of the turn approached.  In the stretch, Coldwater Creek would pour it on, easily powering by the leaders, who all seemed to be in pretty good stride still.  As mentioned in the opening, this was a record breaking performance.  Congratulations!   Coldwater Creek is a three year old filly by Western Red Cedar and out of Not A Penny More (by Worth Every Scent).    She was bred in Ontario by Whitewater Stables, the only trainer for which she has ever known!

2nd- 4- Moonlight Cloud (18/1)- The Alydar Stables entry was initially the quickest of them all out of the gate, but would concede the lead to Mooncreek Mach before they went around the opening turn.  She would keep her fellow Moon moniker’s shadow for the duration of the backstretch, and would pull even for the run into the turn.  In the turn, she would pass Mooncreek Cloud for the lead, but the two that had behind her were looking too good.  Coldwater Creek would go by her pretty easily, but Moonlight Cloud dug in very, very impressively in the final furlong to maintain second.  The trainer should find a lot of silver lining in the heart she displayed to finish off the exactas.

3rd- 1- Czarina of Moscow (5/2)- The Blushing Meadows filly was not all that eager to run early, but would keep her position along the rail comfortably and only be about three lengths behind the leaders.  As they approached the final turn, L Contreras decided that the comfort zone of the rail was not going to work in this one, and wanted to make a move around the two pacesetters.  However, Coldwater Creek was in the lane she wanted, so Contreras had to a bit aggressive to encourage our eventual winner to also make this move.  Not that Coldwater Creek had any problem of that, and the two of them seemed poised to advance well in the stretch.  Her rival would outkick everyone in the stretch, but it seemed as though second was inevitable for Czarina of Moscow.  But, never could complete that pass.

4th- 3- Mooncreek Mach (7/2)- Started well out of the gate for Riggins Racing, and would make the pass of Moonlight Cloud before they moved around the first turn.  As such, it would be her setting the opening quarter time, in :23.10, and half in :46.21.  She had about a half length lead during the backstretch trip, but Moonlight Cloud began to get a little closer as they got near the turn.  Once the leaders went by, Mooncreeek Mach disappointingly did not have any kind of answer for them and would only fade further away as they got closer to the wire.

5th- 2- Une Pouliche de Truc (2/1)- It was a bit of a shaky start for the Axeman filly, as from the get go she never really looked that comfortable at this point.  Once the field entered the backstretch, Une Pouliche de Truc began to look a little better, and remained in the mix.  However, as the field approached the turn, Coldwater Creek and Czarina of Moscow where making aggressive moves and it seemed to nudge Une Pouliche de Truc out of the way, completely.  She would never recover.  Makes you wonder what stewards would think if we had them.

Track: Firm
Time: :23   :46¹  1:09²  1:26³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 4 Paid 53.40
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 4 – 1 Paid 190.90

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded