Tequilita stalked and pounced en route to a convincing score in Saturday's night's GIII Charles Town Oaks in West Virginia, notching the second graded stakes win of her career. Entering off a third-place finish in the GI Test S. at Saratoga, the bay is a homebred for Dorothy Alexander Matz and trainer Michael Matz.
The bay parlayed a win in Laurel's Smart Halo S. last November into a score in the GII Forward Gal S. at Gulfstream Feb. 4. Second in her two-turn debut in the Apr. 1 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, she was a troubled seventh in a sloppy renewal of the May 5 GI Kentucky Oaks. Belatedly closing for third in the Aug. 5 Test, she posted a quartet of works at her trainer's Fair Hill base in recent weeks.
Racing in fifth through fractions of :22.84 and :46.65, she began to roll on the far turn, hit the front into the stretch and reported home a 1 1/2-length winner over longshot Yorkiepoo Princess. Overture was third.
Pedigree Notes:
Sangrita–a half-sister to GISW and sire Offlee Wild (Wild Again)–captured the 2006 GII Chilukki S. for these same connections, while Tequilita's second dam, Alvear (Seattle Slew), is a half-sister to influential sire Dynaformer. Sangrita produced a full-brother to the winner in 2015, a filly by Hard Spun in 2017 and was bred back to Union Rags in 2018.
Saturday Night, Charles Town
CHARLES TOWN OAKS-GIII, $300,000, CT, 9-23, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:26.01, ft.
1–TEQUILITA, 123, f, 3, by Union Rags&log=">Union Rags
1st Dam: Sangrita (GSW, $171,508), by Mr. Greeley
2nd Dam: Alvear, by Seattle Slew
3rd Dam: Andover Way, by His Majesty
O/B-Dorothy Alexander Matz (KY); T-Michael R. Matz; J-Luis
Saez. $174,600. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 10-4-3-1, $523,140.[bullet ad=”bradshaw-randy-shell”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Yorkiepoo Princess, 118, f, 3, Kantharos–Kickapoo Princess,
by Unreal Zeal. ($65,000 Ylg '15 OBSAUG; $8,000 2yo '16
OBSAPR). O-Danny J. Chen; B-A. Francis & Barbara H.
Vanlangendonck (FL); T-Edward R. Barker. $58,200.[bullet ad=”summerfield-bred-raised-sold”][bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”][bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”]3–Overture, 123, f, 3, Congrats–Toccet Over, by Toccet.
($385,000 2yo '16 OBSMAR). O-WinStar Farm LLC; B-Hickstead
Farm (FL); T-William I. Mott. $29,100.
Margins: 1 1/4, HD, NO. Odds: 2.80, 75.90, 7.90.
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