Somali Lemonade victorious in the Jessamine Stakes, could run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
The 2-year-old filly Somali Lemonade goes 2 of 2 and now the daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is pointed toward the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf riding on the back of her perfect record so far, and will likely meet the likes of Pure Gossip and Northern Passion.
Out of Chic Corine by Nureyev, and trained by Michael Matz, Somali Lemonade kicked off her debut season with a win in the maiden weight stakes in her first attempt.
She bagged the seven furlong dash at Belmont Park under jockey Alex Solis on 11 September, 2011, destroying her rivals Conquesta and Sweet and Lovely who finished second and third, respectively, with the winning time of 1 minute and 23.30 seconds.
Somali Lemonade kept her perfect record intact after sweeping the Grade 3, $150,000 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes on a yielding Keeneland grass course on 13 October, 2011.
Somali Lemonade under Alex Solis broke out of the gate fine, but was pegged back in the mid field to try her pace late in the race, last early the filly maneuvered her way through the traffic and as she swung around the turn, she was all set to let it go.
Around the head of the stretch, Somali Lemonade emerged on the outside and charged home impressively leaving behind Sweet Cat in the final furlong and went on to defeat the runner up by 1 ¾ lengths, with the winning time of 1 minute and 45.39 seconds over the 1 1/16 mile long track.
After a lone start over seven furlongs, Somali Lemonade was immediately stretched out by trainer Michael Matz, but the filly showed her class at Keeneland and that is why she is now looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
The Grade 3 Jessamine Stakes two early scratches, which really didn’t affect the depth of the field, because it was still left with a dozen fillies to go at each other at about 1 1/16 miles.
Somali Lemonade the 6 to 5 favourite made it easy for herself and extended her run to 2 wins in as many starts.
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