Valentine Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
SA- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward Foaled in CA
One Mile on the Turf
May 9, 2021

Prior to the Valentine Stakes, Commanding Jane had never run on the turf. After a strong work here on April 29th on the grass, trainer Serenity Stables was feeling good about his filly’s chances. She’s otherwise been successful in her career, with three wins in twelve starts for her career and had been good in a couple stakes, but had not yet won one. As it would turn out, moving her to the grass would solve that issue as well as Commanding Jane went wire to wire to earn the Valentine Stakes triumph. It is the first win in the race for both Serenity Stables and jockey Mario Gutierrez. The time of the win was 1:33.43, which is in line with other recent winning times in the race. Here’s a look!

(¼ Mile- :23.51)- Commanding Jane shoots out to the immediately out of the gate for Serenity Stables, and opens up a length and a half lead almost instantly. Sacred Scrolls holds the second spot for La Canada Racehorses. A length behind her, it’s Absolutely Creepy, who seemed like the horse to beat here, for Black N Gold Stable. Then, it’s a length to Army Flag, for Paradise Stable. Pretty much, they are in a single file line at this point in perfect numeric order.

(½ Mile- :46.64)- It’s still a sequential line over the second quarter of the race, with length and a half gaps between each horse. There’s really not much more to say at this point, so hopefully some excitement will pick up as we move forward.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- It’s still good for Commanding Jane, making the most of her turf debut, holding to the rail without being challenged. Her length and a half lead is still in tact, and time was running out for others to make their move. Sacred Scrolls still maintains that second position, with Absolutely Creepy a length behind in third. The only change we see is Army Flag dropping out of it quite significantly.

(Finish- 1:33.43)- There’s no change in the stretch as Commanding Jane maintains her lead all the way to the wire, and is never challenged in the race. Sacred Scrolls keeps second, but did have Absolutely Creepy pull up to her outside. Army Flag was well behind in last. So, we had a total of zero passes for this entire race. Not the most exciting race to recap, but congrats to Serenity on the win!

About The Winner- Commanding Jane, trained by Serenity Stables and ridden to victory by Mario Gutierrez, is a four year old filly by Command Attention, and is out of the late Hard Jane. She was bred in California as a yearling by Serenity Stables, the only trainer for which she has ever known. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in 13 starts, and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $206.610.

Track: Firm
Time: :23²  :46³  1:09²  1:33²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 2 Paid 6.00

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded