Joe Labozzetta Photo

Split Time up in time for first stakes win in Maddie May

by Heather Pettinger

Tic Stable's Split Time didn't have a second to spare as she picked up her first stakes win on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack, running down longshot Our Super Nova in the final strides for a half-length victory in the $100,000 Maddie May for 3-year-old New York-bred fillies at a mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Sent off as the even-money favorite, Split Time settled under jockey Junior Alvarado just behind the pacesetting Under Suspicion, who was followed closely by Breezy Gal through an opening quarter-mile in 23.45 seconds and a half in 46.97.

Waiting for room along the rail, Alvarado and Split Time had to maneuver around a tiring Under Suspicion at the top of the lane while Our Super Nova, who put in a wide bid to catch the leader in the turn, took over the lead at the head of the lane. Our Super Nova, ridden by Kendrick Carmouche at 9-1, tried to pull clear of the field but Split Time found plenty of running room in the middle of the track and powered through the final furlong to complete the one-turn mile in 1:38.50.

Split Time, a 3-year-old bay filly by Take Charge Indy trained by Linda Rice, returned $4.30 for a $2 win wager.

Runner-up Our Super Nova finished 3 ½ lengths ahead of Cause We Are Loyal in third. Under Suspicion was another 1 ¾ lengths back in fourth, followed by fellow Rice trainee Breezy Gal to complete the order of finish.

"She has the class. She didn't get the best of trips but she still showed how good she is to overcome it," said Alvarado. "In the late stretch, [Our Super Nova] started drifting but she was just running her race. It wasn't anything drastic. It just made things interesting for a little while until my filly really geared down. The only difference is I had the best horse. She's an amazing filly. Ever since Linda stretched her out to a mile, it seems like the distance suits her perfectly."

The win was the third straight for Split Time, who broke her maiden by 6 ¼ lengths in her second career start in January and followed up with a 5 ¼-length optional-claiming win on February 16, all against state-breds.

"It was an interesting trip," said Rice. "Split Time is very tactical and I thought she has more natural speed than the other filly [Breezy Gal]. I just told [the riders], whoever breaks well needs to take it and the other needs to sit off of it and settle. Split Time unfortunately was kind of in an uncomfortable spot the entire race and I was happy she finally wheeled to the outside and got up.

"She had some great, easy trips in her two previous wins," she added. "Today, I was pretty impressed with her grittiness. She had a difficult trip the entire race and was never in a comfortable spot, but she managed to swing out and kick home."