Susie Raisher Photo

Naked Avenger upsets $150K Joseph A. Gimma

by NYRA Press Office

Tee N Jay Stable and Headless Horseman Racing's Naked Avenger revealed a tremendous turn of foot down the lane, reeling in favored Fierce Lady en route to a two-length win at 16-1 in Wednesday's $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma at Belmont Park.

Trained by Timothy Hills, the Congrats bay arrived at the seven-furlong sprint over Big Sandy for New York-bred juvenile fillies from a 1 ¾-length debut win on August 21 contested on a sloppy Saratoga main track.

Time Limit, with Manny Franco up, set the early tempo in the Joseph A Gimma notching the opening quarter-mile in 22.82 seconds on the fast main track under pressure from 3-2 second choice Irish Danzing.

Naked Avenger traveled comfortably under Luis Saez in third with Fierce Lady, the 3-5 mutuel favorite off her last-out win in the Seeking the Ante, waiting patiently for her cue from Hall of Famer Javier Castellano in fourth.

Time Limit reached the half-mile in 45.80 as Irish Danzing began to apply more pressure through the turn, but it was Fierce Lady, with a three-wide move surging past Naked Avenger and the pacesetters, who emerged with the lead as the field straightened away.

Naked Avenger, seemingly left in the dust by Fierce Lady, came alive under Saez in the final eighth of a mile and powered past her rival for a convincing win in 1:23.27.

Saez praised his filly's fighting spirit in securing her first stakes win.

"At the three-eighths, I thought we were done. I tried to get her on the bridle and she started rolling," said Saez. "When we got to the stretch I thought the favorite [Fierce Lady] was gone, but she made a huge move and I knew we were going to be there. I kept riding and thank God we got there. She finished very well."

Hills said Naked Avenger, out of the multiple stakes winner Karmageddon, showed improvement in her training following the maiden win.

"She had dropped back a little bit in her first race, but that was so long ago in a maiden race," said Hills. "People were saying she was lucky to win that day because the favorite had run erratically, but she came out of the race with her game face on.

"She's got a real strong stride," he added. "I knew she needed to improve, and she did just that in her training leading up to this."

Bred by Headless Horseman Racing, Naked Avenger banked $82,500 in victory while remaining undefeated in two starts. She paid $34.20 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes on Thursday at Belmont Park with an 8-race card highlighted by the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory, a 2 1/2-mile jumps event in Race 1. First post is 3 p.m.