In her stakes debut, Dade Babe sped away from her rivals on the first turn and was never caught, defeating favored La Cloche by 3 3/4 lengths in the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes (gr. IIIT) on the Arlington Park turf Sept. 6 (VIDEO).
Ridden by Florent Geroux for trainer Danny Miller and owner Lawrence Peifer, Dade Babe broke on top from from the rail in the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-old fillies, opening up by eight lengths over Silent Candy after a quarter-mile. She led by 12 at the half-mile point and maintained a 10-length advantage after six furlongs.
The lead began to shrink after that but Dade Babe, sent off at 6-1 odds, remained clear by three lengths over Silent Candy mid-stretch and won driving after being roused by Geroux. La Cloche, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Junior Alvarado, chased the leader from third before finishing up 1 1/4 lengths in front of Silent Candy and Shane Sellers. The winning time was 1:51.77 over a good turf course.
Quarter-mile fractions were :24.81, :49.72, :1:14.50 and 1:39.67.
Claimed for $25,000 in March, Dade Babe was trained by David Fawkes before switching to Miller's barn in June. The bay daughter of Cimarron Secret--Zooming, by Sheikh Albadou, has won three of four starts since then, all at Arlington Park. Dade Babe was coming off a head victory in a first-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles Aug. 12 on the turf.
Overall, Dade Babe owns a 5-1-1 mark in 11 starts with modest earnings of $122,440. She earned $57,600 for the Pucker Up Victory.
Francis Mc Donnell bred the winner in Florida.
Sent off as the fourth choice in the field of nine, Dade Babe carried 118 pounds and paid $15.20, $6.80, and $5.20 and topped a $58.20 exacta. La Cloche, favored off back-to-back turf victories in New York for trainer James Toner, returned $3.60 and $3.20 in her stakes debut. Silent Candy, winner of the Hatoof Stakes in her most recent start, was $6.40 to show as the 120-pound high weight.
Second choice Dundalk Dust was two lengths back in fourth. She was followed by Maddie's Odyssey, Cave Creeker, Mourette, Besitos and Kilmore Quay. Go Ask Alex scratched.