Fillies and Mares Rematch in Sixty Sails
 Photo: Linscott Photography Tessa Blue will meet Golden Velvet once again in the Sixty Sails Handicap. |
By Claire Novak
Updated: Saturday April 19, 1:52 PM
Posted: Wednesday April 16, 6:07 PM
Separate rivalries will continue – this time combined – when a field of eight older fillies and mares goes postward in the $200,000 Sixty Sails Handicap (gr. III) at Hawthorne Race Course April 19.
First, Bruce Lunsford’s Tessa Blue and Darley’s Golden Velvet meet again in the 1 1/8 mile event after a 2-3 finish behind Spring Waltz in Gulfstream Park’s March 9 Rampart Handicap (gr. II).
Tessa Blue, a 4-year-old daughter of
Awesome Again bred in Maryland by Frank Wright out of the Conquistador Cielo mare Blue Sky Princess, was the runner-up in that event by 3 ¼ lengths after pressing the pace and sticking a head in front only to be outfinished. Her wins for trainer Frank Brothers include a 7 ¼-length score in the Indiana Oaks (gr. III) and a 12 1/2-length win in the Inside Information Breeders’ Cup Stakes.
Golden Velvet, a 5-year-old
Seeking the Gold mare bred in Kentucky by Darley out of the Storm Cat mare Caress, went into the Rampart off a solid score in the one-mile Sabin Handicap (gr. III) at Gulfstream Jan. 6. The Sabin win was her second in the U.S.--she made eight prior starts in France and Dubai before coming to Kiaran McLaughlin’s barn at Belmont last fall and scoring a solid allowance win by 6 ½ lengths.
Second to Tessa Blue in the Inside Information was Millennium Farms’ Lost Etiquette, a 4-year-old daughter of Lost Solider whose last win came in October when she won the Salem County Stakes at the Meadowlands. Lost Etiquette finished third in the April 2 Perfect Poppy Stakes at Aqueduct last time out for trainer Steve Asmussen.
From Delta Downs’ Goddess Stakes come Robert Adams’ Unforgotten and Eagle Valley Farm’s Kathleens Reel, the 1-2 finishers in that 1 1/16-mile event. Unforgotten, a Florida-bred daughter of
Northern Afleet, got her first black type score with the 4 ½-length win March 21. Kathleen’s Reel, a Kentucky-bred daughter of
Lemon Drop Kid, looks back to a Dec. 28 score in the Prime Rewards Stakes as her most recent win for trainer Ray Sibille.
$200,000 Sixty Sails Handicap (gr. III, race 8, approximate post 4:54 p.m. CST), 1 1/8 miles for older fillies and mares, dirt
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, odds
1. Unforgotten, James Graham, 114, 5-1
2. Rayona, Victor Lebron, 113, 10-1
3. Golden Velvet, Eibar Coa, 118, 3-1
4. Lost Etiquette, John McKee, 114, 6-1
5. Kathleens Reel, Christopher Emigh, 113, 8-1
6. Cryptoquip, E. T. Baird, 114, 6-1
7. Tessa Blue, Mike Smith, 119, 5-2
8. Coolwind, Timothy Thornton, 113, 10-1