Edward Evans’ homebred filly Dixie City repelled a bid from favored Believe in A. P. at the quarter pole and sailed to an easy victory in the $200,000 Demoiselle (gr. II) (VIDEO) Nov. 27 at Aqueduct.
The daughter of Dixie Union won for the third time in five starts as a juvenile but earned her first stakes victory. Jose Lezcano guided the bay filly to the win for trainer Tony Dutrow. The final time for 1 1/8 miles over the fast main track was 1:52.84.
Dixie City went wire-to-wire in the Demoiselle, breaking sharply from the inside and posting reasonable splits of :24.20, :48.19, 1:12.82, and 1:38.74 for a mile. Coupled entry Summer Laugh, also owned by Evans but trained by Todd Pletcher, tracked the early pace along with Full Moon Blues, but it was even-money choice Believe in A. P., fourth in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) last out, who made a big move around the final turn to get into contention under Ramon Dominguez.
But when the neared the quarter pole Dixie City began to inch clear of her rival and by the time she hit the eighth pole she had a commanding six-length advantage. She was never threatened in the stretch, hitting the wire 3 1/4 in front of Believe in A. P. Tap for Luck was another 11 1/2 lengths back in third.
“Tony told me, ‘Do whatever you have to do.’ She broke so sharply I wasn’t about to take hold of her," Lezcano said. "On the backside, I went inside, and she gave me a big run. When I saw (Believe in A.P.) I didn’t know how much horse he had, but I knew I had more.”
Dixie City broke her maiden at Parx Racing in August at second asking and scored an entry-level allowance victory over the same track in October. She was third to Full Moon Blues in her stakes debut, the one-mile Tempted (gr. III) Nov. 6 at Aqueduct.
“I didn’t think the distance was much of an issue as she’s bred to go long," Dutrow said. "She had running on her mind, and they let her set a nice, easy pace. I left the race in Jose’s hands. I didn’t know what would happen as these fillies were going two turns.”
Bred in Virginia, Dixie City is out of the Carson City mare City Sister. She has now earned $203,180.
The winner paid $5.60 and $2.40. Believe in A. P. was $2.40 to place. The exacta (1-5) returned $11. There was no show wagering.
Full Moon Blues finished fourth, followed by Summer Laugh.