The Orchid (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Inner Turf
April 2, 2022

In The Orchid, Maggie Greene had the opportunity to win the stake for four consecutive years. If it has been done before, it is something that only has been done very rarely. This year’s Orchid would be a little different, with the added furlong to the race, but there would also be the element of rain. Ongoing showers at the track the turf course in a soft condition. Maggie Greene has been good on off tracks, so that was not going to wash away her hopes. Instead, she would run into a filly named Into The Darkness, from Rampage Stable, who was looking for her second graded win. After a mile and a half, it would the four year old by The Fog who was all alone at the wire, winning by two lengths. She’d be the only one in the field to top Maggie Greene, and she’s young enough so maybe in four years, she’ll be looking to win it four straight years. For now though, trainer Rampage Stable will celebrate their first win in the race, as does jockey I Ortiz Jr. Congratulations to them! The winning time on the soft going was 2:33.84. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :49.76)- Breaking sharply out of the gate, and leading the field down the backstretch the first time would be Along Comes Mary, for La Canada Racehorses. Running right with her at the start would be TwinTowersRacing’s Starshipdotcom. Moving into the turn, Along Comes Mary began to inch away from Starshipdotcom to have an uncontested lead into the frontstretch. Maggie Greene would hold the third spot for The Sidley Stud, and moved up in the first turn to be even with Starshipdotcom. Sitting right behind them would be our eventual winner, Into The Darkness, for Rampage Stable, and running to her outside was Build Battle, for Mb Stables. They were about two and a half lengths from the front, and behind them by a length would be Jackie Trip (Gdp Inc). We then had a gap of several lengths to Made The Choice High (First Flight Stable) and Chai State (Smokey Stover), and Pink Kitten (Threshold) trailed them all.

(3/4 Mile- 1:15.17)- Along Comes Mary continues to lead the way down the frontstretch and moving into the second turn with the same length advantage. However, the horses right behind her are different as Starshipdotcom has backed up into the fourth position. Maggie Greene runs in the second spot now, and moving up a bit during this portion of the race was Build Battle. Behind them, Into The Darkness now runs evenly with Starshipdotcom and they are still in good striking position. It’s still two lengths to Jackie Trip and those behind her have yet to push forward.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Along Comes Mary calls it a day in the backstretch, and while she begins to drop back, Into The Darkness shows much more ambition and makes a three wide move. Quickly, it becomes her, Maggie Greene and Build Battle fighting for the top spot, but the momentum that Into The Darkness would have going into the turn would serve her well, and she would also pass the two of them before entering the top of the stretch. Once there, her lead was nearly a length on Maggie Greene, and at that point, you had to feel as though the streak was going to end for that one. Build Battle had nothing for them in the turn and was beginning to fade while Along Comes Mary was struggling. Starshipdotcom was no where near the front now. Made The Choice High was the only new challenger to be advancing that would make Into The Darkness fans keep from celebrating too quickly, just in case, but even she had four lengths to make up in the stretch.

(Finish- 2:33.84)- In the stretch, Into The Darkness would see the light of the wire and have no one getting in her way to get there first. She’d win the race pretty easily at this point, gradually pulling further away from Maggie Greene, and ends up winning the race by two lengths. It seemed like second was in the bag for Maggie Greene, but the bid of Made The Choice High was rather valiant. It’d be a tight photo, but Made The Choice High could not quite get the second spot from her. Two lengths back the fatigued Build Battle, and everyone else would be an afterthought. Chai State, Jackie Trip, and Here Comes Mary round it out. Wait! There’s two more, eventually. Starshipdotcom and Pink Kitten were over 20 lengths behind the winner. Starshipdotcom has already produced a foal.

About The Winner- Into The Darkness, trained by Rampage Stable and ridden to victory by I Ortiz Jr, is a four year old filly by The Fog and is out of All Alone. She was bred in California by her trainer, for which she has raced for her entire career. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in 14 starts, her third stake win, and second graded win. Her career earnings are now $352.540.

Track: Soft
Time: :49³  1:15   2:07   2:33⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 1 Paid 12.80
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 1 – 11 Paid 468.30

Scratched: Nurses, Secret Eyes(L)

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES