F E A T U R E
Racing in Southern California
“U” Gotta Love These Cal-Bred Fillies
by EMILY SHIELDS Escape With Me’s three-year-old son of Redattore (Brz), made three starts at Golden Gate Park this winter. Escape With Me foaled an Aragorn (Ire) colt earlier this year. A Double Celebration Less than 48 hours after Unzip Me’s win, U R All That I Am took on a field of four state-bred rivals in the $62,400 Fran’s Valentine Stakes going a mile on the turf. Under Rafael Bejarano, her fourth pilot in five starts, U R All That I Am stalked outside of a fair pace set by Woman Warrior. She looked keen to make a move well before Bejarano cued her to take the lead in midstretch, and she drew clear to a widening 2 1/4-length victory, stopping the clock in 1:34.63. Woman Warrior held for second, while Salty Fries came under the wire third. You Lift Me Up, the 3-5 favorite, finished fourth, just as she did in the 2009 edition of the Fran’s Valentine. Tom and Debi Stull’s Tommy Town Thoroughbreds bred both U R All That I Am, whom they still own, and You Lift Me Up, who is campaigned by George Todaro and trainer Jerry Holendorfer. U R All That I Am is by Valid Wager out of the winning Fort Calgary mare Fort Silver, the dam of five stakes winners. U R All That I Am improved her record to eight wins, three seconds and a third in 15 starts, with earnings of $307,628. The Fran’s Valentine was not only her second stakes win of the meet, after taking the $147,000 B. Thoughtful Stakes on April 24, but was also her first triumph on the grass.
Unzip Me—$74,230 Great Lady M. Stakes—May 21, 2010
U R All That I Am—$62,400 Fran’s Valentine Stakes—May 23, 2010
©Benoit photos
A pair of flashy chestnut four-year-old California-bred fillies blazed over the Hollywood Park turf course in May, bringing home a pair of listed stakes races just two days apart. Another Victory Dash Unzip Me made it five wins in a row with a front-running victory in the $74,230 Great Lady M. Stakes during the Inglewood track’s Friday night program on May 21. The daughter of City Zip sprinted to a clear lead early, tugging aggressively in the first eighth of a mile before settling down three lengths in front. Minute Limit (Ire) rallied in the stretch but couldn’t get within 1 1/4 lengths of Unzip Me and jockey Joe Talamo, who completed the grassy six-furlong dash in 1:09.04. Porto Marmay (Ire) finished in third place, only a neck behind Minute Limit, while Cal-bred Dotsy Jean was another head back in fourth, beaten less than two lengths for the win. It was the third consecutive stakes win for the Martin Jones-trained Unzip Me, who was the 4-5 favorite in a field of seven coming off a score in the grade III, $100,000 Las Cienegas Handicap at Santa Anita Park on April 11. She now has a record of seven wins, two seconds and a third from 12 starts, and has earned $327,430 for owners Harris Farms Inc, Jones, Donald Valpredo and Per Antonsen. Valpredo and Harris Farms bred Unzip Me, who is out of the winning Arazi mare Escape With Me. She is her dam’s first foal to race, but isn’t the only one, as Stealth Rocket,
26 CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED • JULY 2010
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