Helen Belen left it late to snatch the feature for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs from Speedacious
The 4-year-old Desk Farms owned Helen Belen was successful at Churchill Downs in throwing out the chances of the favourites in a Churchill Downs feature race for fillies and mares with the purse of $49,374 on 11 November, 2011, over Churchill Downs’ main
track.
The Kentucky bred daughter of Five Star Day, out of mare Waterford Express by Cherokee Run, Helen Belen made the race all the more exciting when she edged past the rampant Speedacious in the final yards to beat her by a mere half a length.
The six furlong dash was very well run by jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. for trainer William Denzik Jr. It was a typical come from behind approach, as Helen Belen broke nicely but secured her position in third behind the 4-year-old W. Bret Calhoun trained filly,
Speedacious.
Won Great Damsel, who broke out of the gate fine and jumped in to the leaders’ position took the responsibility of setting up the pace in the six furlong long dash.
She went on with a brisk pace covering the opening quarter mile in 22.08 seconds and half a mile in 45.72 seconds.
With the odds of 15 to 1, Helen Belen made her move entering the top stretch where Speedacious also made an early move to leave behind Won Great Damsel for the lead.
Under strong drive from Brian Hernandez Jr. Helen Belen had already built enough momentum to give her all in the final few yards.
Speedacious was looking comfortable, but Helen Belen decided to rewrite the script and went all out in the final yards to edge past Speedacious to complete the upset.
The winning filly covered the six furlong distance in 1 minute and 10.21 seconds and posted her fifth victory of her career, with 2 on the money and 4 third place finishes from 18 lifetime starts. The victory was worth $31,200 which shot up her career earnings
to $149,440.
Helen Belen’s career will always be remembered of her gutsy and determined performance in the Valdale Stakes at Turfway Park where she ran away to win the race by a massive margin of 14 ¾ lengths in February 2010.
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