Sent off the second favorite in Wednesday's GII Honorable Miss S. and asked to give the fleet Finley'sluckycharm three pounds under handicap conditions, Juddmonte Farms' Paulassilverlining called on the class that had seen her annex Grade I events in each of her two previous runs this season to post a narrow victory at the Spa.
Content to amble along in third as the favorite took some early pace pressure to her inside from longshot Disco Chick (Jump Start), Paulassilverlining was asked to take closer order with inside of three furlongs to race and the two chief combatants were side by side at the top of the stretch. Brian Hernandez, Jr. allowed Finley'sluckycharm to float a bit wide off the final corner but the front-runner looked in deep water as Paulassilverlining appeared to have all the momentum. Shoulder to shoulder into the final eighth of a mile, Finley'sluckycharm clung on gamely, but Paulassilverlining was equally determined and found the wire first. By the Moon, backed late from 5-1 into 7-2, had every chance to run down the top two, but was forced to settle for a close third.
“Six [furlongs] is just a little short for her,” said winning trainer Chad Brown. “She showed that with barely getting up there at the wire, but good horses overcome things like this, taking them out of their element just a touch. She's done that today. She was giving the other filly some weight and she was a real quality horse. For this caliber of race, [it was] not that fast and 'Paula' was able to wear her down. It was a great stretch duel. I'm glad we were able to come out on top.”
Beaten a neck as the favorite in the 2016 Honorable Miss, Paulassilverlining sandwiched victories in the GII Gallant Bloom H. Oct. 1 and the Dec. 10 Garland of Roses S. around a third-place effort behind Finest City (City Zip) in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Purchased privately as a future suitor for Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Arrogate at the end of his racing days, Paulassilverlining proved games in landing Keeneland's GI Madison S. Apr. 8 and was having her first start since turning the tables on Finest City in the GI Humana Distaff S. on the Derby undercard May 6.
Brown indicated that the winner would line up next in the GI Ballerina S. Aug. 26, a race in which she was fifth last summer.
Pedigree Notes:
With her Madison success, Paulassilverlining became the most recent of 10 Grade I winners for Adena Springs's Ghostzapper, who is also the sire of the winner's yearling full-sister. Seeking the Silver, herself a full-sister to SW Choctaw Ridge, foaled a colt by Ghostzapper's sire Awesome Again this season. In addition to Paulassilverlining, Seeking the Silver is the dam of two-time GI Carter H. hero Dads Caps (Discreet Cat) and the stakes-placed Liza Too (Olmodavor).
Wednesday, Saratoga
HONORABLE MISS H.-GII, $196,000, SAR, 7-26, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:10.10, gd.
1–PAULASSILVERLINING, 124, m, 5, by Ghostzapper&log=">Ghostzapper
1st Dam: Seeking the Silver, by Grindstone
2nd Dam: Apache Pines, by Pancho Villa
3rd Dam: Alyanna, by Alydar
O-Juddmonte Farms, Inc.; B-Vince Scuderi (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $120,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW,
21-11-4-3, $1,491,230. *1/2 to Dads Caps (Discreet Cat),
MGISW, $1,110,467. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: A+. [bullet ad=”hidden-brook-hidden-brook-foaled-raised”][bullet ad=”tristan-valery-de-meric-broken-trained”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″] 2–Finley'sluckycharm, 121, f, 4, Twirling Candy–Day of Victory,
by Victory Gallop. ($77,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-Carl R. Moore;
B-Lakland Farm (KY); T-W. Bret Calhoun. $40,000.[bullet ad=”burleson-farms-consigned-by”][bullet ad=”lakland-farm-graduate”] 3–By the Moon, 122, m, 5, Indian Charlie–By the Light, by
Malibu Moon. O-Jay Em Ess Stable; B-Samantha Siegel (KY);
T-Michelle Nevin. $20,000.
Margins: NK, HF, 5. Odds: 1.65, 1.15, 3.65.
Also Ran: Clothes Fall Off, Disco Chick.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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