Graham Motion sent his runners out to gallop as Never Retreat stretched ahead of the Matriarch Stakes
The 6-year-old Chris Block trained mare, Never Retreat will be up against the likes of Gypsy’s Warning and Up in Time for the Grade 1, $250,000 Matriarch Stakes on Hollywood Park’s turf over at a mile for 3-year-old and above fillies on 25 November, 2011.
With expectations as high as acquiring the Eclipse Award this season, Jeff Singer and Team Block owned Never Retreat worked ahead of the Matriarch Stakes in the Grade 1 test for 9 fillies who will take the field.
“She just galloped and stretched her legs once around,” said Arthur Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block,. “This was her first morning under tack, she shipped fine,” said Coontz
The Kentucky bred daughter of Smart Strike, out of mare Lisieux by Steady Growth, Never Retreat arrive from Kentucky to Hollywood Park and settled in Barn 70.
Never Retreat has had a pretty good season so far, where she has managed to land five graded stakes this year, and her latest achievement was the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland over at a mile on turf.
On 8 October, 2011, Never Retreat never looked in any trouble in the final furlong as she eased past Together and Daveron, who finished second and third respectively, in the dying stages of the race to cover the mile distance in 1 minute and 34.08 seconds.
Prior to the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes, Never Retreat was coming off a win in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes at Woodbine over at the distance of 1 1/8 miles on 18 September, 2011 over its turf course.
She managed to tackle the Canadian bred Perfect Shirl to down her to second place to take the spoils and finish the race in 1 minute and 45.13 seconds, as Stars to Shine finishes third behind Perfect Shirl.
The defending champion of the Matriarch Stakes back in 2010, Gypsy’s Warning will be bidding to repeat her last year’s performance to take the Matriarch for the second time.
She was joined by stable mates Summer Soiree and Unbridled Humor, as they galloped ahead of the race and got flown in on 23 November.
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