5th-AQU, $63,650, (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 3-11, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:39.54, ft.
CLAIR DE LUNE (f, 3, Malibu Moon–Chicalelee, by Cherokee Run) remained perfect going two turns with a front-running allowance success Friday afternoon at Aqueduct. Sent immediately to the lead by Jose Ortiz, the bay filly had company to her outside in the form of Awesome Dame (Awesome of Course) as odds-on Sense of Beauty (Street Sense) looked to be struggling a bit about a half-dozen lengths further back. Clair de Lune did away with Awesome Dame nearing the stretch and pulled steadily clear to score by 6 1/2 lengths. Sense of Beauty rallied late for second while never any sort of menace to the winner. Clair de Lune, a debut seventh sprinting over the inner track Dec. 27, improved markedly when stretched out to the mile last time, leading every step of the way to graduate by 2 1/2 lengths Feb. 11. The winner's dam was claimed for $10,000 at the Fair Grounds in February 2012 and was put in foal to this sire soon after. This, her first foal, fetched $230,000 as a weanling at the 2013 Keeneland November sale. She also has a 2-year-old filly by Lemon Drop Kid and was bred to Orb in 2015. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $76,600. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-Tracy Farmer. B-Julie Berta, Bob & Rae Horton & Charles Middleton (KY). T-Chad Brown.
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