Rodeo Drive Stakes (BC) (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
September 29, 2018

Quiver Pond had nothing to prove in the Rodeo Drive Stakes. By winning the Grade 1 Beverly D at AP, she had already locked herself into the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. That victory followed up a win at the Grade 1 BEL Oaks, so regardless of what happened here, she would going into the BC on good form. Now, she is going to go into that race on a three race winning streak. This Kavorka filly simply gets it done, running a sensible race most of the way, before knowing just when to strike in the end. She was our second pick, moreso because I was admittedly trying to play a bit of “beat the favorite”, but after this we all know who the favorite should be for the Fillies and Mares Turf. The winning trainer is Estero Farms, and her jockey was Alan Garcia. Each are first time winners of the Rodeo Drive Stakes. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:58.89, and that’s the fourth quickest in the history of this race. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.45)- Out of the starting gate, Youthful Presence gets off to an excellent start and leads the field by about a length almost instantaneously, but she will soon concede the lead to her stablemate, Drop Her Off, for Mb Stables. These two are the best early, and as Drop Her Off now leads by a length, Youthful Presence has a similar advantage over the rest of the field by the time they hit the start/finish line on the first lap. From that point, until the beginning of the first turn, we see Trump Princess make an advance for Winning Link Stables, and this ends up putting her level with Youthful Presence at the time they hit the half mile. Also making a move forward at a similar point was Peppermint Miss, for D J C Racing Stables. She pulls up alongside Sprinkles, another Mb Stables filly, who was more steady in her start. They trail by three. Sitting four lengths back, with a comfortable spot in the middle of the field is where we see the eventual winner from Estero Farms, Quiver Pond. She had a good lane at this stage of the race that should potentially keep her out of trouble. Nearby was Last Weeks Gossip (TwinTowersRacing) and Diplomatic Command (Allinthegate). A gap of three then followed to our trailers, running together. This consisted of Commanding Faith, who we picked, from Crocker Ggs. She is not typically (though has been at times) so far back early on, and then Rain Down (John Henry) and Raven Rock (Team 7 Illusions).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.98)- As they make their way down the backstretch, we do not see much in the order of the field, and no one really makes an additional push forward that hadn’t already. Drop Her Off and Youthful Presence continue to lead the way for Mb Stables, while Trump Princess was remaining with them. Sprinkles started looking for her lane, and would hope that her stablemates would not impede her progress. Further back, it would not be until the end of the backstretch run where we saw Quiver Pond begin to show her intentions. She was preparing to pull to the outside of Peppermint Miss and run three wide. As for the rest of the field, the main thing to note is that the three trailers had caught up to the pack. Commanding Faith was beginning to set up for her run.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Excitement picked up during the turn, and Quiver Pond was the focal point. She quickly put away Peppermint Miss early on, and pulled to the outside of the front runners. They were four wide at the top of stretch, and with the two from Mb Stable continuing to hold on, for now, at the front. Trump Princess was advancing too, as she looked to remind people that she is still one of the horses to watch in this division. Those three were to the inside of Quiver Pond. Sprinkles ran fifth, looking for a lane to open up between her teammates, and hoping for some teamwork. Peppermint Miss was still sixth for now, but dropping. Moving forward would be Commanding Faith on the outside, but the better move seemed to be from Rain Down, who responded very well at the top of the stretch, and had a good lane to be able to advance her position. Diplomatic Command tried to hang tough with them. Raven Rock looked for her lane, but did not have the legs underneath her to make it happen. Last Weeks Gossip was losing touch with her rivals, but had a good seat to watch the action in front of her.

(Finish- 1:58.89)- There was no catching Quiver Pond in the stretch, as she made her outside move and made it work all the way to the end. She did drift out a tad at towards the very end which might of got some attention, and with that the end result is a little closer then it would have been otherwise. She was still much the best today. Sprinkles eventually did get the teamwork needed from her friends, as they courteously allowed her to have the rail. She started to make it a little interesting late, but ran out of time. Trump Princess ran steady to the wire for third. Rain Down and Youthful Presence would dead heat for fourth, half a length ahead of Commanding Faith. Drop Her Off would indeed drop off, and finished seventh. Diplomatic Command, Peppermint Miss, and Raven Rock were next, and then eventually, Last Weeks Gossip got there as well.

About The Winner- Quiver Pond, trained by Estero Farms and ridden to victory by Alan Garcia, is a three year old filly by Kavorka, and is out of Raquette Lake. She was bred in Ontario by Night Mare Racing as a yearling, and acquired by Estero Farms in private sales in May 2017 (after one race), for $200.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her eighth in fourteen starts, her third consecutive win, and her seventh win, six of them are graded, and five of them are Grade 1’s. Her career earnings are now $1,977.200.

Track: Firm
Time: :47²  1:10⁴  1:34⁴  1:58⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 2 Paid 217.40
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 2 – 8 Paid 1,626.80

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES