By Andrea Branchini
Let's hear for mature females running the show–and running in the show! They work hard for the breed, especially when they race past their first youth. Was Walt Whitman maybe thinking a little about older mares when he wrote: “The female contains all qualities and tempers them, she is in her place and moves with perfect balance”? And also: “She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sons as well as daughters”?
HEAVENLY PRIZE INVITATIONAL S., $121,250, Aqueduct, 3-6, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:39.51, ft.
1–BANK STING, 120, m, 5, Central Banker–Bee in a Bonnet (SP), by Precise End. ($14,000 RNA Ylg '18 EASOCT). O-Hidden Brook Farm & Joseph G. & Anne McMahon; B-McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, LLC (NY); T-John P. Terranova II; J-Dylan Davis. $68,750. Lifetime Record: MSW, 9-7-0-0, $475,050.
One is Aqueduct stakes winner BANK STING. Her name is like a no-hitter in baseball: there is a certain perfection about it. The first part of the name comes from the sire, the second part derives from the dam. The full name is on to something different: a happy mix of the two making perfect sense. A+!
ALBERT M. STALL MEMORIAL S., $100,000, Fair Grounds, 2-19, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:46.22, fm.
1–SHE CAN'T SING, 118, m, 5, Bernardini–Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor. 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O/B-Lothenbach Stables Inc (KY); T-Chris M Block; J-Jareth Loveberry. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 27-5-6-4, $411,938.
Another is Fair Grounds stretch duelist SHE CAN'T SING. Being out of a mare called Distorted Music (Distorted Humor), she carries a sort of self-evident name
NELLIE MORSE S., $99,000, Laurel, 2-19, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:45.60, ft.
1–KISS THE GIRL, 122, m, 5, Into Mischief–Spin the Bottle, by Hard Spun. ($210,000 Ylg '18 EASOCT). O-Three Diamonds Farm; B-Classic Thoroughbred XII (MD); T-Michael J. Trombetta; J-Victor R. Carrasco. $60,000. Lifetime Record: MSW, 23-8-4-3, $456,686.
The third is Laurel winner KISS THE GIRL, her name related to the mischievous little game her dam is named after.
BROADWAY S., $100,000, Aqueduct, 2-13, (S), 4yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:12.81, sy.
1–KEPT WAITING, 118, m, 5, Broken Vow–Orient Moon, by Malibu Moon. ($65,000 Ylg '18 SARAUG). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Sanford & Irwin Goldfarb & Nice Guys Stables; B-John Lauriello (NY); T-Robert N. Falcone, Jr.; J-Manuel Franco. $55,000. Lifetime Record: 11-5-3-1, $266,600
Last, but not least, is another Aqueduct victrix: KEPT WAITING. Her name is in the vein of the BLUSHING GROOM (out of RUNAWAY BRIDE) tradition. There's someone waiting for someone somewhere, with apprehension growing by the minute about a previous promise.
Good luck to all these four ingeniously named female musketeers.
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