4/11/26

  2   OP    The Apple Blossom Hcp (GI)

$1,250.00   1^1/16m  Dirt     4yo&Up F&M        Hcp Weights   

Well, I guess we got everything we wanted and a bit more in this one…  Saturday’s Apple Blossom Hcp (GI) was a heck of a horse race and the ladies certainly put on a show for us.  When it was all over, only four lengths covered the field and Royalty Stables‘ Vanessa made a stretch long drive to nail this one by a neck.  Winless in ’25, the stable obviously never gave up on this tough lady, and she makes it back-to-back wins, but none bigger than this.  This was her first graded stakes score, her fifth lifetime win and she now has $1,143.77 in lifetime earnings.  Congrats to the connections! 

Great Eclipse, from the Night Rider Stables, the 7/2 post time favorite, put in a very game effort, but just couldn’t catch the eventual winner, securing the runner-up purse.  It was another neck back to Winning Link Stables’ Boardwalk Authority in third, that one taking a lead in the lane, but couldn’t muster the needed courage for the final sixteenth.  Mo Mentum Farm took the minor share as pace-setter Barossa Valley got a bit leg weary in the shadow of the wire.  The track was listed as fast and we did not have a scratch in this one.    

$2 Mutuel Prices:

Winner: Vanessa   B m 5  Valiant – Creepy And Old by Mr Creepy
Owner: Royalty Stables  Breeder: Royalty Stables (ON)
Track: Fast      Time: :23²  :47   1:11   1:41²
$1 Exacta: 9 – 7 Paid 13.60           $1 Trifecta: 9 – 7 – 5 Paid 57.80
Scratched: None

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES