The first week in March saw a trio of Virginia-bred horses reach the winners circle and for the second time in a week, another quartet finished second on the very same day…again!
No Free Lunch started the month off with a four length win in a $10,700 claiming race at Ohio’s Mahoning Valley Racecourse. The 5 year old son of Successful Appeal was best in a field of nine and finished the six furlong sprint in 1:13.81. Bred by the Morgan’s Ford Farm, the winner stayed close to the front right from the start, rallied confidently through the stretch and ran past the leader with 1/16th to go. No Free Lunch, out of the Tiznow mare, Thor’s Daughter, is trained by Glenn Kopp and now has over $139,0000 in earnings.
Scott Lake’s Tough Weather (shown here winning in December) took control of her 5 1/2 furlong filly/mare claiming race at the top of the stretch and won by a solid 2 3/4 lengths. The 5 year old daughter of Wiseman’s Ferry prevailed over eight others in a March 3rd clash at Penn National. Bred by Sam English II, Tough Weather trailed Supsa at the quarter by just one length before coming on strong in the turn. Out of the Montreal Red mare, Soft Weather, the victor was sent off as the even money betting choice, crossed in 1:05.26 and boosted her lifetime bankroll to over $100,000.
Tough Weather wins her 3rd career race from 16 starts December 18 at Laurel. Photo courtesy of Jim McCue.
Likeness won handily in his $10,080 one mile starter event at Sunland Park on March 6th. Bred by James Sumter Carter and the Walmac Farm, the 5 year old gelding made a five wide move in the far turn to take the lead heading for home. Likeness crossed 5 1/4 lengths ahead of his next closest foe and paid $3.80. The winner was ridden by Alfredo Juarez, and is by Ready’s Image out of Gucci Gulch by Gulch.
On March 5th, four Virginia-breds earned second place finishes in quality races, just six days after another four-pack collected runner-up scores in a series of allowance races. Hot and Dangerous, a 5 year old mare bred by DSR, LLC, got her place finish in a $30,555 allowance test at Sunland while 3 year old colt My Chennai Xpress, bred by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, continued to perform well at Oaklawn, getting second in a $73,000 allowance event. Awake The Day, a 4 year old filly bred by Sam English, was second best in a $24,500, 4 1/2 furlong allowance sprint for fillies and mares at Charles Town and finally, Scented Up, bred by the Vermont Farms, LLC, was just shy in a 1 1/16th miles maiden claimer at the same venue.