Royal Heroine Stakes (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
April 26, 2025

Nobody would be able to catch Huntee on Saturday in the Royal Heroine Stakes as the filly came from the middle of the pack to get her first career stake win. Going off at odds of 8/1, Huntee was among our picks for the race, but was not the top choice. The track would see a lot of rain, leaving the turf course soft, but that is not something that Hunterman Stable was going to be concerned about, as the filly ran well in her only previous wet track start, although that was some time ago. This is the first win in the Royal Heroine for Hunterman Stable, as well as for her jockey, V Espinoza. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:38.12 on the soft going. Let’s take a look at it now!

(1/4 Mile- :23.65)- From the outside, My Princess Em moves to the front for Bigchief Stables and will have the field clear by a length early in the opening turn. She has four right behind her, and its Children Of The Sod, from Onlineracingclub.com ahead of the La Canada Racehorses- trained Pollards Game by a neck, to her inside. The outside pair of this group are Spb Racing’s Lady Hamilton and Paradise Stable’s Outrageous Nevada. Running in the middle of the pack here, is our eventual winner from Hunterman Stable, Huntee. She is positioned in the lane right behind Children Of The Sod for now and has Vetted (Arq Racingfarms) nearby on the rail. It’s another length to Corsica (Glorify Stables), and the trailers are All By Myself (TwinTowersRacing) and Blooper (Black N Gold Stable).

(½ Mile- :47.91)- My Princess Em still leads as we make our way down the backstretch, and it’s still Children Of The Sod and Pollards Game running second and third a length behind her. Those two have pulled away a bit from Outrageous Nevada and moreso from Lady Hamilton. Huntee continues to run along in the middle of the field but moves over a lane. Vetted is unable to keep up with her and now finds Corsica about to go by her. Blooper and All By Myself ride it out at the back still.

(Top of Stretch, 1.6F To Go)- Up front, My Princess Em continues to be the leader, but barely, as our pick to win, Pollards Game, makes up ground on the rail and is poised to take the top spot imminently. Children Of The Sod and Outrageous Nevada are a length out of it, but all eyes were further back in the field. Huntee was positioned by V Espinoza to make an outside run and was now just a length and a half from the lead. Also, Corsica had also made up considerable ground and was coming quickly. The problem for her looked to be the length that she was still behind Huntee. Meanwhile, Lady Hamilton lacked response and Vetted dropped out of it. Blooper made slight ground, and All By Myself showed little.

(Finish- 1:38.12)- Briefly, Pollards Game did own the lead, but Huntee had hunted her down and was about to go cruising by on the outside. With about a half furlong to go, the lead switched hands again, this time for good as Huntee was out in front. Corsica was running well but could never make up that length to Huntee. They go 1-2, with My Princess Em actually getting back by Pollards Game to take third. Children Of The Sod and Outrageous Nevada are credited with a fifth-place dead heat, and are followed by Blooper, Lady Hamilton, All By Myself, and Vetted.

About The Winner- Huntee, trained by Hunterman Stable and ridden to victory by V Espinoza, is a four-year-old filly by Manhunt and is out of Fangs Lil Sis. She was bred by Arindel as a second quarter two-year-old in California and was acquired by Hunterman Stable while she was still unraced for $4.530 in the June 2023 auction. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in 18 starts, and her first stake win of any sort. Her career earnings are now $285.150.

Track: Soft
Time: :23³  :47⁴  1:12⁴  1:38

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 9 Paid 31.60
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 9 – 10 Paid 250.70

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES