The Ticonderoga ($200.000 Purse)
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward Foaled In NY
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
October 30, 2021

Heading into The Ticonderoga, A Girl Has No Name had done very little in the stakes that she had run in. Back in 2019, there was an ungraded victory, but other than that, she has been unable to step up to be successful at this level. In overnights, she has been very good, but it had not been the case in stakes. On a rain soaked day at BEL, A Girl Has No Name would finally get her second stake win after waiting two years since the last time she did so. She’s trained by Nakamura Stables, and he scored his second in the race. Aboard the winner, it was, who else, V R Carrasco. Initially, it was not going to be Carrasco, but the opportunity presented itself to make a rider switch and Nakamura is not going to pass that up. It’s the first win in the race for Carrasco. Congratulations! The time of the win on the soft turf was 1:45.53. Let’s take a look!

(1/4 Mile- :23.95)- The start of the race sees two clear groups of horses as the first five horses pull away from the back three by at least five lengths. At the front, Apache Snow, from Wood Duck Stables and Cherokee Latte, from Chili King Stables are side by side for the lead, and they are closely pursued by three stalkers. Our eventual winner, Nakamura Stables’ A Girl Has No Name runs between horses here, while having TwinTowersRacing’s Ponzi Scheme on her outside and Mb Stables-trained Indecisive to her inside. Then, we have the big gap to the trailers, Chai Appeal (Maxmillion Farm), Wonderful Authority (Smokey Stover), and Miami (Century Acres Farm).

(½ Mile- :48.39)- Down the backstretch, Apache Snow continues to hold the lead by a neck over Cherokee Latte. Ponzi Scheme, who had been in the third lane, showed some intent to join them, but either backed off of that or was unable too prior to entering the turn and she continues to be a length back. A Girl Has No Name holds the spot directly behind Cherokee Latte while Indecisive runs behind Apache Snow. Further back, Wonderful Authority was now the leader of the back group but still had a lot of ground to make up.

(Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Early into the turn, not much changed but midway through, Ponzi Scheme wins the courteous horse of the race award by moving down a lane for A Girl Has No Name to begin a run and come on through. Seeing that polite gesture, V R Carrasco, capitalizes with his mare, and A Girl Has No Name would be full of run, quickly joining the frontrunners and then taking the lead before hitting the top of the stretch. Cherokee Latte could have had time to block, but when she came down, she also conveniently stopped moving down just enough as to not block A Girl Has No Name. Meanwhile, Apache Snow was still hanging tough to the rail, and Indecisive began to prepare a move of her own. Wonderful Authority had been making great progress further back, and Chai Appeal made some, too. That same could not be said for Miami.

(Finish- 1:45.53)- In the stretch, A Girl Has No Name took command, pulling away from her rivals relatively easily. Indecisive was able to stay about a length behind her for a while, though. Her biggest challenger would ultimately be Wonderful Authority, who moved to the rail and made a good bid. Even with that, A Girl Has No Name was too far in front of her and would go on to win by a length. Wonderful Authority takes second by a length over Indecisive, then it was five lengths back to Apache Snow, who melted in the stretch but hung on over Chai Appeal for a small portion of the purse. Cherokee Latte, the friendly Ponzi Scheme, and Miami round it out.

About The Winner- A Girl Has No Name, trained by Nakamura Stables and ridden to victory by V R Carrasco, is a five year old mare by Valar Morghulis and is out of Spoonfed. She was bred by Gdp Inc as a second quarter two year old in New York, and acquired by Nakamura in the December 2019 auction for $31.010. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her ninth in 23 starts, and her second stake win. Her career earnings are now $358.930.

Track: Soft
Time: :23⁴  :48¹  1:13²  1:45²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 7 Paid 15.70
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 7 – 2 Paid 118.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded