Ender's Sister, with Hall of Fame rider Pat Day in the irons, won the $150,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday with an explosive move at the sixteenth pole that swept her to a ¾-length win.Ender's Sister defeated Live Oak Plantation's Menifeeque in the 1 1/16-mile dirt race for 3-year-old fillies. With the win, the Green Lantern Stable homebred bagged her third consecutive stakes – and fourth race overall – and also gave Day his third Florida Oaks win, the most of any rider in the Oak's 21-year history.The winner of the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa on Feb. 21, the Oak's local prep, and the $100,000 Three Ring Stakes at Calder in December, Ender's Sister broke sharply in the field of field of nine. Day throttled back the Rusty Arnold trainee to sit just off the early pace set by fellow Suncoast vet Fall Fashion with Edgar Prado in the irons.Fall Fashion took the field through early fractions of :23.54 and :47.82 with both Ender's Sister and Menifeeque in close attendance. The trio raced into the second turn, then Menifeeque, with Cornelio Velasquez up, assumed the lead over Ender's Sister by a length and a half with an eighth to go.Day went to strong left-handed stick inside the furlong marker and Ender's Sister got the point at the sixteenth pole where she kicked into another gear and wore down leader Menifeeque. She got to the wire first by three quarters of a length and stopping the timer at 1:45.66 over a track officially labeled "fast.""She got a good start and was comfortably placed," Day said after the race. "I eased off the leaders on the backside and when I called on her to respond she responded beautifully."Ender's Sister returned $4.60 as the 13-10 favorite. The win improved the daughter of A.P. Indy to 7-4-2-0 and the $90,000 winner's share boosted her earnings to $224,900.
(Chart, Equibase)
