TEPIN S., $100,000, Aqueduct, 11-29, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:47.14, gd.
1–LOVESTRUCK, 120, f, 2, by Tapit
1st Dam: Love Style, by Mr. Prospector
2nd Dam: Likeable Style, by Nijinsky II
3rd Dam: Personable Lady, by No
Robbery
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O/B-Godolphin, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott;
J-Junior Alvarado. $55,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $94,600. *1/2 to Scat Daddy (Johannesburg), Among the Leading Sires-U.S., Leading Sire-Chi, MGISW, $1,334,300;
1/2 to Antipathy (A.P. Indy), GSW & GISP, $341,784; 1/2 to Grand Daddy
(Johannesburg), SW, $151,669.
2–Invincible Gal (GB), 120, f, 2, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Alsindi
(Ire), by Acclamation (GB). (200,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Michael J. Ryan, Jeff Drown, & Team Hanley; B-Rabbah
Bloodstock Limited (GB); T-H. Graham Motion. $20,000.
3–Big Time Lady, 120, f, 2, Big Brown–Liza Lu, by Menifee.
($100,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG). O-Repole Stable; B-Spruce Lane
Farm, et al (NY); T-Rudy R. Rodriguez. $12,000.
Margins: 1, 1HF, 3/4. Odds: 1.10, 2.30, 26.75.
Also Ran: Island Treasure, Fifth Risk, Bravo Regina, Lexinator, Thursday. Scratched: Dollar Mountain, Frost Me, Hit the Woah, Malibu Curl.
Lovestruck didn't bat an eye over the leap from a Sept. 7 maiden special weight win over this distance at the Spa into black-type company in the Tepin S. Her one-length maiden victory notched a solid 75 Beyer Speed Figure and she'd been entered twice prior to the Tepin, including the rained-affected Chelsey Flower S. earlier in the month.
Eager out of the gate in the Tepin, Lovestruck was kept under a hard hold by rider Junior Alvarado. He kept the gray reserved in third on the inside through a quarter in :24.05 and a half in :50.50. Looking for room, she moved out several paths to find a seam in upper stretch. Lovestruck was sitting on go and once she found the front about a sixteenth from home, a couple of right-handed taps was all she needed to edge away with authority and remain undefeated in two starts.
“She's been ready for quite a while,” said Alvarado. “We were expecting the kind of run from her that we saw today. There's still room for her to improve. She's still a little bit green and when she got to the lead she was wandering around the track, which is fine. When she puts it all together, we'll get a little more from her.
“I knew she was going to be sharp, but I like to teach them to relax behind horses and have a nice finish. I didn't want to just let her go. Even though it was a slow pace, I knew I was close enough that she wouldn't have too much to do at the end.”
The 140th stakes winner for Tapit, Lovestruck is a Godolphin homebred and is the fourth black-type winner out five foals to race for her unraced dam. Love Style, herself out of GISW Likeable Style, is best known as the dam of the late MGISW and stellar sire Scat Daddy. The 21-year-old mare has a weanling filly by Into Mischief and has been bred back to Frosted for next term. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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