La Canada Stakes (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
January 12, 2019

Maxmillion Farm had a good day yesterday in the races that I was covering, but this one I really did not see coming. Obviously, as when you pick your top four in a five horse, and the one you didn’t pick ends up winning, clearly you were caught off guard. Honey Dew, in recent races, has run up and front from start to almost the finish. She had struggled to finish off the races, so a tactical change seemed like a good option. That’s always a mystery to be able to predict how the horse might fare with such a move unless you are the trainer yourself to see the private works and know how you have been testing them. I liked Destination Ny a little more, though the betting public certainly didn’t. She still ended up second. Enoughs Enough ends up disappointing. For Maxmillion Farm, this is his first La Canada win, and that is true for jockey E A Roman as well. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:42.37. Tough to compare times to prior editions, as there have been several condition changes along the way. Let’s take a look at the race!

(1/4 Mile- :23.39)- Indy Zero breaks sharply out of the gate for Estero Farms. Eventual winner Honey Dew was initially right there with her, but seemed to be in a restrain pretty quickly after the break, and she would not continue the effort to be on the lead. This allowed Indy Zero to start to pull away, but she would be joined by Enoughs Enough, from Mb Stables, as they moved into the opening turn. Indy Zero led by a length, but a gap of two lengths separated the rest of the field, which saw Honey Dew running to the inside of stablemate Destination Ny. Ineffable was only one more length behind them for TwinTowersRacing.

(½ Mile- :47.20)- Out front, Indy Zero slows the pace down just a little over the second quarter of the race, but maintains that length advantage over Enoughs Enough. Not seeing much further change in the action as the Maxmillion entries are still three lengths from the front, and running together, while Ineffable is another length back, and eyeing the third lane over the backstretch. Let’s see if the action starts to pick up in the next segment.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- The remainder of the backstretch trip was uneventful, but the action got going within the turn as Destination Ny was the first to make a move forward. Not too long after, Honey Dew followed that lead, and Ineffable remained right behind them as they advanced. Rounding the turn and into the top of stretch Indy Zero still had a length lead, but it was in jeopardy. Enoughs Enough, however, had been caught, and the trainer had to be disappointed in the lack of response of hers to move to the inside. Honey Dew had the lane immediately to Indy Zero’s outside, and Destination Ny was immediately to her outside. Maxmillion had to like the looks of this. Ineffable still loomed as threat, though.

(Finish- 1:42.37)- In the stretch, Honey Dew showed that drive that we had gotten used to seeing out of her at the start of a race, rather then the end. She responded quite well to the tactical adjustment, and holds off her stablemate, Destination Ny, who for some reason went off at ridiculous odds, for the win. Ineffable made a late bid, and ends up narrowly spoiling the Maxmillion exacta, but settles for third. Enoughs Enough takes fourth, but this is not the race we expect to see out of her. Indy Zero was not terrible in the stretch, but is passed by the field.

About The Winner- Honey Dew, trained by Maxmillion Farm, and ridden to victory by E A Roman, is a four year old filly by El Jorobao Q and is out of Speedy Game. She was bred in California by Golden Stables, and acquired by Maxmillion, via LionKing Stables in a $20.000 private sale back in October 2017. Congratulations to the connections!  The win is her third in 12 starts, and her second stake win, both of which are graded. Her career earnings are now $292.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :23¹  :47¹  1:11   1:42¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 360.90
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 6 Paid 1,308.10

Scratched: Eponine

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES