Toll Taker Game Winner in Boiling Springs

(from Monmouth Park report)
Sea Gull Associates' Toll Taker, the odds-on choice in a field of just three 3-year-old fillies, was all heart on the front end to finish a neck in front of Pleasant Lyrics in the $136,500 Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park Sunday.

Toll Taker, who started as the 7-10 favorite when the Boiling Springs was taken off the turf (losing its grade III status this year) and run on the main track, triumphed in what turned out to be a match race with Pleasant Lyrics. Ruby Martini, the third starter, finished nearly 18 lengths behind the top two.

With Aaron Gryder aboard, Toll Taker took the lead from the start and held it for nearly a mile through fractions of :24, :47 3/5, 1:11 2/5 and 1:37 3/5 on a fast track. However, in mid-stretch, John Velazquez drove Pleasant Lyrics to the front by a neck. Toll Taker, racing on the rail, responded to again take charge inside the sixteenth pole. She held her advantage to the wire.

Tim Hills trains Toll Taker, an Illinois-bred daughter of Bernstein who won for the third time in five starts at Monmouth. She paid $3.40 to win and topped a $5.40 exacta after racing the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:44 1/5.

"She just ran so competitively today," Gryder said. "When that other filly got by us in the stretch, I was hoping that she was going to reach down and find something extra, and she did. She was just the best horse today."

Cool Spell, Classy Charm, Melhor Ainda, Paddy's Daisy, and Frost Princess all scratched.

(Chart, Equibase)