Nine 3-year-old filly sprinters, including the top two finishers from the Leave Me Alone Stakes, have been entered for the $150,000 Azalea Stakes (gr. III) going six furlongs on the July 7 "Summit of Speed" card at Calder Casino & Racecourse.
HRTV will be onsite to cover the Summit of Speed, while the Horse Racing Radio Network will provide live coverage trackside. HRRN’s coverage from 4-6 p.m. will air on Sirius channel 92 as well as on select HRRN affiliates and online with live streaming provided on HRRN’s site.
Another Romance, a daughter of Saint Anddan trained by William Kaplan, rallied while four-wide in the stretch under jockey Luca Panici to catch pacesetter Citizen Advocate for a neck victory in the June 9 Leave Me Alone, also at six furlongs. The Leave Me Alone was the first stakes triumph for Another Romance, who was in receipt of seven pounds from 121-pound highweight Citizen Advocate.
Owned by a partnership that includes Lewis Pell, Michael Eigner, and Pinnacle Racing Stable, Another Romance has compiled a 3-4-2 record in 14 starts, with earnings of $141,915. She carries 117 pounds, with Panici aboard again.
Citizen Advocate, who is carrying high weight of 122 pounds in the Azalea, is an experienced stakes competitor with three wins and four placings in stakes company during her 11-race career. The well-traveled Proud Citizen filly trained by David Vivian for owner White Hall Lane Farm won the Presque Isle Debutante Stakes, the My Trusty Cat Stakes at Delta Downs, and Calder’s Catcharisingstar Stakes, all as a 2-year-old last year. Citizen Advocate, who has earned $298,650, is winless in 2012 but has placed in stakes in all four of her starts this season. She will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez for the first time.
Rick Stanley’s seasoned Say a Novena will be seeking her third stakes triumph, having previously won the Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park and the Brandywine Stakes at Parx Racing for trainer Ed Plesa, Jr. The Songandaprayer filly has three wins and four seconds—all in stakes company—to her credit as she has traveled to six different tracks during her 11-race career while bankrolling $280,850.
Awesome Belle, one of two fillies entered in the Azalea by trainer Stanley I. Gold, chased Citizen Advocate throughout the Leave Me Alone Stakes before giving way late for a fourth-place finish. The Jacks or Better Farm homebred rolled to a 7 ½-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile Florida Stallion My Dear Girl Stakes at Calder last fall for her lone stakes win in 14 career starts. The Awesome of Course filly has a third-place finish in allowance company to her credit from seven 2012 starts.
$150,000 Azalea Stakes (gr. III, Race 9, Post 4:37 p.m.), 3YO Fillies, Six Furlongs
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Defy Gravity (KY), J C Leyva, 115, V A Testerman
2. Another Romance (FL), L Panici, 117, W A Kaplan
3. Say a Novena (KY), M R Cruz, 119, E Plesa, Jr.
4. Awesome Belle (FL), F Jara, 119, S I Gold
5. Citizen Advocate (FL), C H Velasquez, 122, D A Vivian
6. Exclusively Maria (FL, J L Alvarez, 119, B Parboo
7. Sinister Tale (KY), J N Delgado, 115, J L Prada
8. Daddys Jewel (FL), S Bridgmohan, 115, S A Joseph, Jr.
9. Redbud Road (FL), L Saez, 119, S I Gold
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