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Lady T and jockey Victor Espinoza win the G3 Las Flores
Unhurried early, Tina and Jerry Moss’s Lady T came running late to take Saturday’s $100,000 Las Flores Stakes (G3) under Victor Espinoza.
Trained by John Shirreffs, Lady T got six furlongs in 1:09.65 over a Santa Anita main track that was listed as fast.
Fifth and on the move midway around the turn, Lady T was about 3 ½ lengths off of dueling leaders Doris Mae and Manorelli approaching the quarter pole. Four-deep turning for home, Lady T outran favored Samurai Charm to the sixteenth pole and overtook the front-runners close home to win going away.
“I think the race set up better for her today,” said Espinoza, who has been aboard for 10 of Lady T’s 11 starts. “Having the outside post helped her a lot. She can be a little complicated, so things have to go her way or if not, then she doesn’t perform as she should.
“She a little funny because she looks at everything, she sees everything more than I do or anyone else. Sometimes she has a bad habit of wanting to go out and (she) starts lugging out. And when that happens, it is hard for me to control her. Today, from the outside post, I didn’t have to do much with her, just let her run.”
A 3-year-old filly by Into Mischief, Lady T, who was second, beaten a nose in a six furlong allowance Nov. 27 at Del Mar, was off at 2-1 in field of eight fillies and mares three and up and paid $6.80 for the win.
Purchased for $235,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling, Lady T, who was second in the Summertime Oaks (G2) going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita four starts back on June 12, got her first stakes victory Saturday and is now 11-2-6-0 overall. With the winner’s share of $60,000, she has earnings of $229,700.
“This is a great way to end the year and this is a nice filly,” said Shirreffs. “We really like this filly and maybe we found out what she wants to do. We’ve tried her two turns and today, it looked like she did this very well. Yes, we’ll keep her sprinting for now. Victor gave her a great ride, he’s patient with her and saved the best for last.”
In a huge effort, Manorelli dueled from the outset with Doris Mae but couldn’t hold off the winner late, finishing second by a half length over her pace nemesis.
Doris Mae finished 1 ¼ lengths in front of Samurai Charm, who appeared fourth-best on the day.
Fractions on the race were :21.97, :44.26. and 56.79.
LAS FLORES (G3) STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
VICTOR ESPINOZA, LADY T, WINNER: “I think the race set up better for her today. Having the outside post helped her a lot. She can be a little complicated, so things have to go her way, if not then she doesn’t perform as she should. Today she seemed like it worked out well.
“She’s a little funny because she looks at everything, she sees everything more than I do or anyone else. Sometimes she has a bad habit of wanting to go out and starts lugging out, and when that happens it is hard for me to control her. Today from the outside post, I didn’t have to do much with her, just let her run.
“Thank you and Happy New Year to Tina and Mr. Moss, we had a great run this year and looking forward to next year.”
TRAINER QUOTES
JOHN SHIRREFFS, LADY T, WINNER: “This is great way to end the year and this is a nice filly. We really like this filly and maybe we found out what she wants to do. We’ve tried her two turns and today, it looked like she did this very well. Yes, we’ll keep her sprinting for now. Victor gave her a great ride, he was patient with her and saved the best for last.”
