Ring Leader maintained her perfect record with a score over favored 'TDN Rising Star' Specially in the Listed Dixie Belle S. at Oaklawn Saturday evening. Second choice on the board, the bay, who broke her maiden at first asking at Canterbury Park in June and returned Jan. 24 to romp by 5 1/4 lengths in the mud locally, tracked from third behind an opening split of :22.48. She challenged three deep on the far turn and went on with it, turning into the home straight with all of the momentum. The $80,000 KEESEP yearling maintained her rapidly shrinking advantage all the way to the line as the slow-starting Specially took a late dive at Ring Leader, but would ultimately miss by a half-length.
“She's improving,” trainer Mac Robertson said. “Obviously, she went from winning by a head at Canterbury to winning by five at Oaklawn. That's a big move. Usually when they make that big of a move, they make another one. I don't think it's foolish to be high on a horse like that. They always come again. When they come that much from two to three, they always come again. It might not be next time. Might be in the fall or next year, but they come again. They get better.”
The dam, whose lone win from 10 starts was a $12,500 maiden claimer going this trip over the Golden Gate synthetic in December of 2012, has a juvenile colt by Mshawish. A half-sister to SW Jazzy Gallop (Victory Gallop), she foaled a filly by Atreides Jan. 21. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
DIXIE BELLE S., $122,500, Oaklawn, 2-15, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:10.46, ft.
1–RING LEADER, 119, f, 3, by Paynter
1st Dam: Ringmistress, by Bandini
2nd Dam: Jasminola (Fr), by Seattle Dancer
3rd Dam: Jasm, by Secretariat
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($80,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Novogratz
Racing Stables Inc.; B-George Krikorian (KY); T-McLean
Robertson; J-Joseph Talamo. $75,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $143,400. *10th SW for her sire (by Awesome Again).
2–Specially, 118, f, 3, Tapiture–Peace Process, by War Front.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($20,000 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $40,000 Ylg '18
FTKJUL; $475,000 2yo '19 OBSMAR). O-John C. Oxley; B-Ikhana
Farm (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $25,000.
3–Wasabi Girl, 119, f, 3, Shanghai Bobby–Tick Tick Boom, by
Cuvee. ($75,000 Wlg '17 FTKNOV; $130,000 Ylg '18 FTKJUL;
$190,000 RNA 2yo '19 EASMAY). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds
LLC & Allen Creel; B-Highclere Inc. (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$12,500.
Margins: HF, 5HF, 3/4. Odds: 4.00, 0.70, 4.60.
Also Ran: Sassy Seneca, Miss Firecracker.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
