New York shipper Quiet Temper broke her maiden in style when she crushed the field in the $500,000 Boyd Gaming's Delta Princess Stakes Powered by Youbet.com (gr. III) (VIDEO) on a sloppy track at snow-pelted Delta Downs on the night of Dec. 4.
With Robby Albarado aboard for the first time, the Kentucky-bred 2-year-old daughter of Quiet American seized the lead rounding the final turn in the one-mile test and quickly drew off through the lane to win by 7 3/4 lengths in a time of 1:40.05 over a sealed surface.
"She broke really sharp and placed herself forwardly going into the first turn," Albarado said. "On the second turn I squeezed her a little bit and she just took off with her ears pricked. She looks like she will go on. She galloped out awfully nice crossing the wire. She'll be fun next year."
Dale Romans, on quite a roll with 2-year-old fillies, trains Quiet Temper for owner Mark Stanley. Romans won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Tapitsfly Nov. 6, and sent out Sassy Image to win Churchill Downs' Pocahontas (gr. III) Nov. 1 and the Golden Rod (gr. II) Nov. 28. Romans had entered Quiet Temper in the Golden Rod but scratched her in favor of the Delta Princess.
Quiet Temper was bumped wide on the first turn as favored Truth and Justice, on a three-stakes winning streak for trainer Kelly Breen Jr., set the pace. Fractions were :22.65, :50.71, and 1:13.75.
As Truth and Justice tired on the final turn and the leaders bunched up, Quiet Temper emerged in front of Lela and Bella Diamante and took command at the top of the stretch. Bella Diamante, with Donald Simington aboard, recovered from some traffic trouble to chase Quiet Temper down the lane. Bella Diamante held off Joanie's Catch by a nose for second, with Best Reward a half-length back in fourth. Drewman, Lela, Woman Soldier, The Rumor's True, and Truth and Justice trailed.
Truth and Justice was pulled up by jockey Joe Bravo after taking a bad step at the top of the lane. According to Breen, Truth and Justice was euthanized after sustaining multiple fractures in her right knee. She had won four of six previous races in her career and earned $238,599 for owners George and Lori Hall.
Quiet Temper began her career with three consecutive runner-up finishes in maiden company. Her first two races were at Saratoga and her most recent try came at Belmont Park Oct. 4 over a good track at one mile. In that race, she finished four lengths behind Ailalea, who returned in her next start to win the Tempted Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct.
Bred by James Jones, Quiet Temper is out of Dead Aim, by Silver Deputy, and sold for $90,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in September 2008. She earned $300,000 for the victory.
Sent off as the co-second choice with Bella Diamante, Quiet Temper paid $9, $4.60, and $3.20 and topped a $36.60 exacta. Bella Diamante returned $4.40 and $3. Joanie's Catch was $3.80 to show.