Joe Labozzetta Photo

Much the best, Actress posts 8 ¼-length victory in G3 Comely

by NYRA Press Office

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart sweeps Key Cents, Gio Ponti on Black Friday

Gary and Mary West’s homebred Actress donned blinkers for the first time and opened up by 8 ¼ lengths under the wire to win the Grade 3, $250,000 Comely for sophomore fillies on Aqueduct Racetrack’s Black Friday holiday card, notching her first stakes victory since the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on May 19.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz, the gray Tapit filly stayed in the clear through the early going of the 1 1/8-mile contest, settling just behind 9-5 favorite Miss Sky Warrior in second while the pacesetting Run and Go took the field of eight through an opening quarter-mile in 25.34 seconds. 

Actress launched her bid after a half-mile in 49.85, moving along the outside to challenge the leaders. She hooked up with Miss Sky Warrior in the far turn as Run and Go faded along the rail. Miss Sky Warrior also proved no match as the pair hit the quarter-pole, leaving Actress alone in the stretch to stop the clock in 1:52.66.

Parade was second, a nose ahead of Miss Sky Warrior in third. Tapella was fourth, followed by You Know Too, Analyze, Bonita Bianca, and Run and Go to complete the order of finish. Crimson Frost was scratched.

Sent off as the 5-2 second-choice, Actress returned $7.30 for a $2 win wager.

The Jason Servis trainee earned her first stakes win over a sloppy and sealed track in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico Racecourse at 12-1 but had been winless in three subsequent starts, most recently finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Cotillion on September 23, leading her connections to add blinkers ahead of her start in the Comely. 

“I thought she ran super,” said Servis. “With putting on the blinkers, that is always satisfying because sometimes you try something, and another thing happens. We felt the blinkers would help her; just kind of saving them for an ace in the hole. It was nice to get a win with Jose, too.”

“The [blinkers] helped her a lot,” added Ortiz. “She broke a little bit better and she pulled herself close and when I asked her to go, she responded very well. It was a clear run to the first turn and I didn’t take a hold of her; I let her go on her own and I let her take the position that she wanted. I just sat on her until the quarter-pole. The longer she goes, the better it is for her.”

Actress improved her record to 2-2-1 from seven starts for lifetime earnings of $395,150.

In Race 3, Gold Star Racing Stable, Matthew Hand and Brian McKenzie’s I Still Miss You capitalized on a cut-back in distance, winning the $100,000 Key Cents for state-bred juvenile fillies to start Friday’s stakes action.

I Still Miss You surged near the front under jockey Manny Franco, dueling Stone Cold Flirt for the lead with a quarter-mile going in 22.45 before overtaking her rival and registering a half-mile in 46.15.

Out of the turn, I Still Miss You fended off a charging Stone Cold Flirt from the inside and outkicked 8-5 favorite Pure Silver to win by a length, completing six furlongs in 1:12.98.

Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, I Still Miss You won for the first time since capturing the Astoria by 2 ¼ lengths on June 8 at Belmont Park. After running sixth in the Maid of the Mist at a mile last out on October 21 on Big Sandy, the Majestic Warrior filly won for the third time in six career starts.

“I think she was comfortable in front, and some of her best races have come when she’s been in front,” Franco said. “I didn’t have many instructions. The pace helped because she was in control and when I asked her to go, she was there for me.”

Off at 11-1, I Still Miss You paid $25.80 and improved her career earnings to $296,367.

“The race in Saratoga was a real headscratcher,” said Englehart. “We added blinkers with the thought that if she got in between horses again, maybe she wouldn't worry about it as much. The last race was going long and I don't think she wants to go long. Our plan was to keep the same level of horses and run her in a six-furlong race with the blinkers and see how it would help. Today, she ran back to her old self. She's just more of a sprinter. I thought Manny did a good job of asking her to get into a good spot. He didn't allow the race to come to her, he put her in the race and I thought that was the difference.”

Pure Silver was second, two lengths in front of third-place finisher Indy’s Lady, a stablemate of I Still Miss You, who finished in the money for the third time in four career starts, all against stakes company.

Cause We Are Loyal, Miss Mystique, Stone Cold Flirt, Newport Breeze and Tayler’s the Boss completed the order of finish.

Englehart picked up his second stakes win of the day in Race 8 with August Dawn Farm’s Small Bear in the $150,000 Gio Ponti for 3-year-olds on the turf.

Breaking from post 2 with Rajiv Maragh aboard, Small Bear stalked comfortably in fourth position as 3-2 post-time favorite Secretary At War led the field of 12 through fractions of 24.77 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, with the half going in 49.40.

As the field reached the quarter-pole, Secretary At War remained in front as Small Bear moved from the rail to four-wide in the upper stretch. Under a drive from the outside, Small Bear unleased a ferocious closing kick. Passing Secretary At War at the sixteenth-pole, Small Bear held on by a neck over Funtastic to secure the victory.

“He finished real strong. When you’re riding a closer, the faster [the pace], the better,” said Maragh. “He’s shown he’s better running at horses. So, I was optimistic that it would be honest enough of a pace that I could close. Jeremiah stressed to me to try and get him in the clear, where he does his best running. It was an ideal trip. A couple of horses contested the pace and we got to the clear when we wanted to, and he did the rest.”

Leaving the gate at odds of 8-1, Small Bear returned $19.80. Earning his first career stakes victory, the Macho Uno gelding boosted his career earnings to $286,432.

“He was in over his head in his last start [the Grade 3 Hill Prince, October 7], but he never really got off the fence and he’s a horse that kind of wants to get clear,” said Englehart. “I thought Rajiv did a great job saving as much ground as he could and then getting him off the rail at the right time. I think that was all Rajiv. He just needed that last eighth of a mile to stretch his legs and he ran really well.”

Following Secretary At War in third was Hieroglyphics, Lunaire, Dalama, Bootlegger, Fuel the Bern, Harlan’s Harmony and It’s Your Nickel.