By Heather Anderson
Californian owner/breeder Nick Alexander and trainer Phil D'Amato enjoyed a red-letter weekend at Santa Anita Park. Alexander's stable of primarily Golden State homebreds was represented Saturday by Tough It Out (Grazen), who landed his first black-type score (Video), when splashing his way to victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Echo Eddie S. on the GI Santa Anita Derby undercard. The highlight of the weekend however, was another offspring of Grazen, debutante 3-year-old filly Enola Gray, who put the icing on the cake, stunning a field of Cal-bred maidens by 16 1/4 lengths in front-running fashion going that same distance a day later (video).
A 4-1 chance Sunday, Enola Gray easily separated herself from the pack through the early going and steadily increased her lead, while thoroughly out-classing her opponents at every stage. Well off the rail entering the stretch with veteran reinsman Tyler Baze sitting chilly, she hit the six-furlong mark in 1:08.95, before finishing up in the fast time of 1:13.71. The steel grey miss earned a 99 Beyer for her tour de force performance, which was over a second faster than the downgraded and off-the-turf Listed Las Cienegas S. won by the year-older Dreamologist (Tapit) earlier on the card.
“She came out of her race in good order,” D'Amato told the TDN Monday. “I'll train her for a week or two before we come up with a definitive gameplan. Normally, I would look at a Cal-bred stakes like the Fleet Treat as a long-term goal at Del Mar [in July]. However, she showed such spectacular brilliance in her first race, we might look at open-company 3-year-old races in her future for the second half of the year.”
Regarding stablemate Tough It Out, D'Amato continued, “The long-term goal is the $200,000 Snow Chief S. at Santa Anita May 28.
Enola Gray is an Alexander product through and though. Her sire, who scored his biggest win in the 2009 GIII Affirmed H. and also was second in the GII Swaps S., is also an Alexander homebred and the stable's first graded-stakes winner. The son of Benchmark sustained an injury later that year that sent him to join the California stallion ranks, where he currently commands a fee of $2,500 at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.
Unsung Heroine (More Than Ready), a winner in 12 starts, was snapped up by Alexander for only $40,000 out of the 2007 Keeneland November Sale carrying her first foal by Eddington. Well-related, Unsung Heroine's second dam is a half-sister to Irish highweight and G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Trusted Partner (Affirmed), herself dam of GI Matriarch S. scorer Dress to Thrill (Ire) (Danehill), while her third dam is U.S. champion juvenile filly Talking Picture (Speak John). Enola Gray is her sixth foal and, with Enola Gray's win, gives Unsung Heroine her fourth winner from four runners. A yearling filly by Tizbud is her latest offspring.
Alexander's runners have been quietly making a name for themselves for well over a decade in California. Retired from operating Nick Alexander Imports, an auto-dealership which is now run by his children Nick and Elizabeth, the 73-year-old, who is also a member of the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, has shifted his attention to operating his 285-acre farm several hours north of Los Angeles with his wife Mary. Last year, the stable amassed record-earnings of $1,068,300, with 23 wins from 108 starts.
Regardless of where the Alexander homebreds resurface, chances are they will continue to make a name for themselves on the Cal-bred circuit.
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