May 19, 2015

Of the six horses entered in the Grade I Black-Eyed Susan, only one was a Grade I winner and in the end, that level of experience paid off in spades as Google Maps, coming off a huge score in the SA Oaks but a scratch in the KY Oaks, pulled off a nostril victory in what amounted to a track-record time. A daughter of Grade I winner Five Spirits, she was brilliant from off the pace at SA when scoring at nearly 20-1 but all out to win here as the 9-5 favourite but in doing so, earned her fourth win in a row while pushing her earnings to more than $450.000 in the process.

There is a decent amount of time for horses on the outside at PIM to get down to the rail at the nine-furlong distance and Google Maps (*1.75) broke like a rocket and did just that, sprinting past her outside rivals before the first turn. Unfortunately, Lingerie Fantasy (7.45) and Step Softly (2.85) both held their own from the inside and the battle was fought early in the compact field as they headed into the backstretch. Google Maps actually fell back into third as Lingerie Fantasy took the group of six through a modest half-mile in 48.56 and while the backfield was out into the track farther than expected, everyone held their own going into the far turn. Step Softly started to retreat between rivals as Lingerie Fantasy inched nearly a length clear and through six-furlongs in a quickening 1:12.09, the stage was set for a big tussle between the gutsy inside starter and her outside combatant. Headlong into the stretch, Lingerie Fantasy moved into the two-wide path as Google Maps inched four-wide so as not to see her rival and tooth and nail, they fought with neither given an inch and no one really coming to challenge. With a furlong to go, there was nothing between them and each strained to the wire but as the final strides approached, the experience of Google Maps prevailed and she stretched her nose out there to win by a whisker, with Lingerie Fantasy giving her all but coming up that little bit short. It was four-lengths back to Midnight Wild (14.35) in third, as she came around rivals to pip Ancient Royalty (2.35) and Step Softly, while Famed Queen (12.25) never got involved at long odds and wound up eight-lengths in arrears of the powerful winner.

It took a new track record and the biggest effort of her budding career but Google Maps proved that her score in the Grade I SA Oaks was no fluke and now, with this score in the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan, she can start to build a career on a foundation of solid route form. The perfect race for her might be the Grade II Summertime Oaks at SA, with a good purse and over a course she knows, with future races like the Grade I CCA Oaks and Grade I Cotillion as possibilities for this talented filly.

Congratulations goes out to owner Aml Racing and their three-year-old filly Google Maps, a hard-fought winner of the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan at PIM!

Prediction                     Google Maps / Ancient Royalty / Step Softly

Winner                          Google Maps

                                         Three-year-old gray filly

                                         Five Spirits-Risky Investment (Sadlers Wells)

Owner                            Aml Racing

Time                                48.56, 1:12.09, 1:35.95, 1:48.22 (NTR)

Overall

Google Maps                 *1.75 broke sharp, fell back, rallied smartly

Lingerie Fantasy          7.45 inside speed, clear around turn, missed

Midnight Wild              14.35 wide throughout, got third

Ancient Royalty            2.35 inside trip, outfinished

Step Softly                       2.85 no late momentum

Famed Queen                12.25 outrun

Triple T Racing 🙂

Categories: Grade II