Musical Romance, the 20 to 1 shot kept it real till the end and darted past opponents to win the BC Filly and Mare Sprint
4-year-old filly Musical Romance pulled off a big upset in the Grade 1, $909,000 Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on 4 November, 2011, sent at 20 to 1 odds.
Pinnacle Racing Stable and trainer Bill Kaplan’s 20-1 longshot loaded on the rail and stayed there to go all out on the inside leaving behind the favoured Turbulent Descent in a magnificent drive from jockey J Leyva.
Inside the eighth pole the most experienced runner out of the 12 horses participating and the only one based in Calder South Florida, Musical Romance conjured up a magnificent late run to defeat the fast closing in Switch on the outside and prevailed by 1 ¼ lengths.
It was a late run by Switch and Her Smile who came charging down the stretch, but had they been a little early with their turn of foot, the result of the race would’ve been a little different, but the two fast approaching runners squared for a photo finish for the second and third position.
In the 2010 Filly and Mare Sprint, Switch ended up finishing second and yet again this year the filly met the same fate, edging past Her Smile to post a second place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint 2011 season.
The favourite of the race, Turbulent Descent had a terrible tip in the seven furlong trip where she had no room to make a move and got squeezed in between horses.
Head strong, Turbulent Descent despite switching didn’t lose ground or pace but kept going but couldn’t hold off the runs of other fillies and mares who were targeting the finishing line with fiery ambitions.
Turbulent Descent was put out of her misery when Musical Romance darted past her, who was followed by Switch and Her Smile, and a little farther back Pomeroys Pistol came in and finished ahead of Turbulent Descent in fourth position.
“This filly, I just need to let her do whatever she wants to do in the beginning," Leyva said, "and down the lane I need to get into her a little bit, but I always try to save enough with her
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