Caroline Forgason's homebred Somali Lemonade took a little time to get the 2013 season underway but found success in her second start off the layup, snapping a 0-10 skid with a mild upset in the $250,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap (gr. IIIT) July 2 at Parx Racing (VIDEO).
The 4-year-old homebred daughter of Lemon Drop Kid closed into a slow pace and held off the challenge of Miz Ida by half a length to earn her first victory since the 2011 JP Morgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland, a race she won in her second start as a 2-year-old for trainer Michael Matz.
Time for 1 1/16 miles over a boggy turf course was 1:47.83 as 6-1 Somali Lemonade improved her record to 3-2-2 from 13 starts, with earnings of $409,306.
Jockey Joel Rosario allowed the Matz-trained runner to settle third behind a pace set by 6-5 favorite Pianist, who led by a length over Naples Bay for a quarter in :25.32 and by half a length for a half in :51.10. Somali Lemonade was still third as three-quarters went in 1:16.34, but split rivals on the far turn and took the lead as Pianist faded heading for home.
Drifting out through deep stretch, Somali Lemonade faced the bold challenge of Miz Ida, who rallied four wide into the stretch but then hung. Pianist was third while Hessonite, Naples Bay, and Dinner's Out completed the order of finish. Laughing and Peace Preserver scratched.
Somali Lemonade returned $15.40, $6.20, and $3.20 as Miz Ida brought $4.60 and $2.80 and Pianist paid $2.20.
Bred in Kentucky out of the Nureyev mare Chic Corine, Somali Lemonade began her season with a fourth in optional claiming company June 2 at Belmont Park. That was her first race since a seventh in the Nov. 17 Mrs. Revere Stakes (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs. In 2012 her best effort was a runner-up finish a head behind Samitar in Belmont's Garden City Stakes (gr. IT). Other solid attempts that year included a second in the Appalachian Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland and thirds in the Boiling Springs Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park and the Woodford Reserve Lake Placid Stakes (gr. IIT) at Saratoga Race Course.
