Residency Makes Outside Post Work in The Matron

By Nynl Stables on October 9, 2018

The Matron (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies Two Years Old
Six Furlongs on the Turf
October 8, 2018

The Matron was a wide open race, as a bunch of two year old fillies filled the starting gate in hopes of establishing themselves as one of the top threats in the division. Perhaps we’ll see one of them, like our eventual winner here, Retained, show up in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, but since this race carries no points for that specific race, it remains to be seen. It is not a surprise that this race had such a tight finish in the end, but it is Retained that gets the job done. Starting from the 12-post would not be a problem for her. Her winning trainer is Mb Stables, who gets his first win in the stake. On the jockey side, J Alvarado is now a two time winner. He also rode Girl With Red Shoes, for John Henry, back in 2016. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:09.00, and we can’t compare that to anything because this is the first year this race ran on the grass. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.64)– It is a steady start for most of the field without any one particular horse showing the desire to lead early. Our outermost horse, Retained, broke the recent tradition of that horse pushing forward and looked to be restrained early. Therefore, it would be La Marine Ancienne in front early on for Greeko Holdem, and she had the Team 7 Illusions filly, Ninovan right to her inside. Levi Sneaky, out of Estero Farms was right there with them, and because of this the leaders were not able to promptly move over to the rail. Meimadeline, the slight post time favorite from Blushing Meadows was within a length of Levi Sneaky, preventing her from moving over. To her inside, the maiden Grand Gran, out of Drabfantasy held her own on the rail. City Of Soul was with this pack as well, in a stalking position for John Henry, two lengths out of the lead. We then had a length gap to a threesome that had Kauai (Gdp Inc) on the inside, Innocent Approach (Mb Stables), and Risque One (D J C Racing Stables). Yummy Dragon (Drabfantasy) was four wide of this group. Our eventual winner from Mb Stables, Retained, was six lengths back heading into the turn, and ahead of only Game Girl (Royalty Racing).

(½ Mile- :45.51, Top of stretch, 1.5F To Go)- While La Marine Ancienne continued to lead the field, she was never able to move over, and therefore ran the turn about five wide. The way these first five horses were aligned had to be very infuriating for their trainers to watch, especially for La Marine Ancienne, Ninovan, and Levi Sneaky. At some point, you’d rather see them pull ahead just a little more so they could move over to the rail, or drop back a bit. That wasn’t the case here, and it led to very wide trips for these three in particular. It would especially do La Marine Ancienne and Ninovan in. Meimadeline and Grand Gran did nothing wrong, though, and maintained their position, although were very courteous to allow the rail to be wide open. City Of Soul began to move up, would go six wide, but at least she was not wide the whole way. Innocent Approach and Risque One ran side by side, waiting for their time to strike, and a lane was setting up well for Risque One. Next was Kauai, and like Meimadeline and Grand Gran, her degree of politeness was unparalleled. She could have taken the rail too, perhaps to try and pass a few, but still left it wide open. At the top of the stretch then, that lane was just sitting there. Sitting there so glaringly, it might as well have had a “Reserved For Retained” sign on it. Retained was more then happy to take it. Yummy Dragon and Game Girl were the trailers here.

(Finish- 1:09.00)- Even with the rail so wide open, Retained had to first come down on Kauai for no apparent reason. That’s the thanks Kauai gets for her politeness, she likely won’t be so courteous next time. The stewards must have been getting coffee at that time. Not to take anything away from Retained, and while there is some sarcasm here, she was the class of the field in the stretch. No one was match her stride, and she is able to get up just in time to narrowly defeat Risque One and City Of Soul in a tight three way photo for the win. They were a length ahead of a six way photo that could have finished any which way, but will be scored officially as: Levi Sneaky, Grand Gran, Innocent Approach, Game Girl, Yummy Dragon, and Meimadeline. A length behind them came the other three, the pushed around but no stewards noticed Kauai, and then Ninovan and La Marine Ancienne, who had wide trips throughout.

About The Winner: Retained, trained by Mb Stables, and ridden to victory by Alvarado, is a two year old filly by Proud Chai, and it out of Furious Missile. She was bred in California by Mb Stables as a first quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her second in four starts, and her first stake win of any sort. Her career earnings are now $112.880.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Retained

Mb Stables

Alvarado J

12.40

1^no