The Top Flight Handicap ($100.000 Purse)
AQU- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
April 10, 2021

Dorians Drift came into The Top Flight Handicap winning three of her prior four races. That stretch would earn her this opportunity to make her stake debut. It was a good spot for her, as this was a field without a headliner, and this filly by Drift would win by a length. She is trained by YME Stable, and earns her trainer his first win in this stake. Jockey J L Ortiz also wins his race for the first time. It was won in a time of 1:48.11. Here’s a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.86)- Three horses break out of the gate together, and running in the middle of this group is Distorted Jangles, from Nakamura Stables. After half a mile, she ends up being a little quicker than the other two and has a length lead. To her inside is The Sidley Stud’s Speedy Ginger, and Commanding Jane, from Serenity Stables, runs in the third lane. Our eventual winner, Dorians Drift, is fourth for YME Stable, trailing the leader by about two lengths. Proud Daughter, out of Night Rider Stables, is half a length behind her, to the outside.

(¾ Mile- 1:11.43)- Distorted Jangles opens up her advantage on the rest of the field to be about two lengths now as the field moves around the turn. Commanding Jane and Speedy Ginger are still second and third for now, but they have company in the form of Dorians Drift who begins to move in between them. Proud Daughter, however, is not able to draw closer, and is all by herself at the back of the field now.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Out in front, Distorted Jangles continues to hold on to the lead, but it is beginning to shrink. Dorians Drift has been able to come on through for second and set her sights on the pacesetter, and only needs to make up about a length at this point. Speedy Ginger made a sharp move to the rail for the stretch while Commanding Jane stayed in the third lane. Proud Daughter has been left behind.

(Finish- 1:48.11)- With a furlong to go, Dorians Drift pulls to the outside of Distorted Jangles, and takes over the lead. At this point, the race was in the bag, as there was no one coming from further back to get her. Distorted Jangles ran out of gas quite a bit in the waning moments, and sees Speedy Ginger go by on the inside for second and Commanding Jane do so on the outside for third. She’ll settle for fourth as Proud Daughter never was involved.

About The Winner- Dorians Drift, trained by YME Stable, and ridden to victory by J L Ortiz, is a four year old filly by Drift and is out of the late Bright Vision. She was bred in Florida by her trainer as a third quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in eight starts, and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $146.530.

Track: Fast
Time: :47⁴  1:11²  1:35³  1:48

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 2 Paid 14.10
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 2 – 5 Paid 75.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded