The Regret (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
June 4, 2022

Coming into The Regret, Ginger Tiara did seem as though she was one of the better horses in the field, but maybe not the one to beat. Coming off a very close second place finish three weeks ago at a mile and a half in the Santa Barbara, she was hoping to continue that momentum here. This race would be shorter, and the Ginger Haggis filly would indeed step up and win the second stake of her career, by a length over Directors Chair, the post time favorite who also was a part of that photo in the Santa Barbara as the third place finisher. The Sidley Stud is the winning trainer, and he earns his first win in the stake, as does jockey M Murrill. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:45.81, beating the old stake record by .01! Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :47.16)- Directors Chair, trained by Nakamura Stables, is the quickest of our field of six from the gate and heads down the frontstretch with a length advantage over the second place horse, Arindel’s Bonnie. Around the first turn, Directors Chair starts to add to her lead a little bit, and by the time they hit a half mile, her lead is about two lengths. Bonnie is now caught by two to her outside, with Asgar’s Z Scarlet running right beside her and Kiss Me Kelsie, from Fractious, running in the third lane. Behind them is where we find our eventual winner, The Sidley Stud’s Ginger Tiara. She is unhurried at this time, running fifth all by herself, and about four lengths from the front. It’s one more length to My Imagination, out of Arindel.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.35)- Down the backstretch, it is all Directors Chair, as she continues to lead the field without any pressure being put on her. In fact, her lead grows even more, to about two and a half lengths now as we move into the turn. Z Scarlet is the new second place horse, pushing a half length ahead of both Bonnie and Kiss Me Kelsie. We still have not seen a push from Ginger Tiara, as she is fifth, but she is able to find the lane right behind Z Scarlet which should help her move through those directly in front of her. My Imagination was watching it all unfold in front of her, for now.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Directors Chair is still the leader, and still showing no signs of letting up, so she certainly was looking very good, especially considering she just went twelve furlongs three weeks ago. Z Scarlet was still second, but had not really gained much on the pace setter, and both Bonnie and Kiss Me Kelsie began to drop back. That could not have been better news for Ginger Tiara, who picked up her stride over the second half of the turn by following Z Scarlet and moving into third. Now, she could slide to the inside and set her sights on passing Z Scarlet, something that was nearly complete by the top of the stretch. My Imagination made a wide move on exit of the turn in hopes of advancing her spot as well but she’d have a lot of work to do at this point.

(Finish- 1:45.81)- Ginger Tiara had plenty left in the tank for the stretch, with so much power in her stride that she would make Directors Chair look slow in the stretch, even though she wasn’t running that badly. Being within a length and a half with a furlong to go, it looked like these two would be in another photo together, but that would not end up being the case. Reason being that Ginger Tiara would pass Directors Chair so easily that she would go on to win while pulling away, earning a win by a length. Directors Chair was a clear second, beating third place Z Scarlet by three lengths, and then two more to My Imagination. So, this results in one of the more spread out finishes in a stake that was not on off track that I have seen in a while. Kiss Me Kelsie beat Bonnie for fifth.

About The Winner- Ginger Tiara, trained by The Sidley Stud and ridden to victory by M Murrill, is a three year old filly by Ginger Haggis and is out of Burra Style. She was bred in New York as a yearling by her trainer, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in ten starts, her second stake win and first graded win. Her career earnings are now $264.590.

Track: Firm
Time: :47   1:10¹  1:33⁴  1:45⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 4 Paid 10.90
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 4 – 6 Paid 22.00

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES