City to City wins after 17 months, downing rivals in the Palomar Handicap at Delmar
The thought process before putting a horse back in to the race after a long layoff is to give that particular runner the feel of things and to get him or her back into running mode, despite all the training, there is no pre requisite to a fresh comeback
race.
The Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer would’ve had the same thought process behind sending his 4-year-old filly, City to City, back into the races, who hasn’t run since 23 July, 2011.
However, the daughter of City Zip had other ideas and she must be aching to get back on the track, because the feeling was thoroughly translated as she matched strides with her 8 rival fillies and mares to win the $150,000 Palomar Handicap on 5 September
at Del Mar.
City to City won her first race since April 2010, and she did it in difficult circumstances. The filly broke from the rail and was lurking behind the lot because of where she was standing in the race.
Despite the less favoured post number, City to City swept past her opponents and most importantly pace maker Medaglia d’Amour in deep stretch to hit the wire on a firm course.
Ridden by jockey Garrett Gomez, City to City was sent at the odds of 5 to 1 to win the race, and she covered the distance of 1 1/16 miles in 1 minute and 41.58 seconds.
Though breaking from the rail, City to City, found a comfortable spot there and the filly just off the pace sat nicely behind the leading group, which consisted of Ninth Infantry, Andina, It Tiz and Joe Talamo’s ride Medaglia d’Armour.
Under strong urging from jockey Garrett Gomez, City to City responded in emphatic style and cruised past to own the third position.
City to City hesitated for a brief moment, but geared herself to challenge for the lead from Medaglia d’Amour, who had 2 lengths advantage going into the mid stretch.
City to City bolted to high gear and took control of the proceedings inside the sixteenth pole, and from there on forward, it was all cruise control.
The victory was worth $90,000 and it increased the filly’s bank roll $371,491, with six wins in all of 19 starts.
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