Winter Memories debuts 2012 with a win in the Beaugay Stakes
With only 2 defeats in last season’s six starts, Phillips Racing Partnership’s Winter Memories started off her new campaign on a winning note when she bolted through the track to take her seasonal debut in the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont
Park on 5 May, 2012, and in the process the 4-year-old filly handed her jockey, Eddie Castro, his 2,000th North American victory.
This was Castro’s first time riding Winter Memories, and the pair hit it off right from the word go in the 1 1/16 mile test. Things became a little easier for Eddie Castro as Winter Memories was installed as the 9 to 10 favourite over the Belmont Park’s
turf course.
Eddie Castro saved ground and held the filly to come off the pace. The pair tracked the pace, as the pace setter carved fractions of 49.90 seconds for the half mile marker and covered six furlongs in 1 minute and 13.98 seconds.
Gitchee Goomie weakened, and Winter Memories who tracked the leader racing along Check the Label sensed the drop in pace, and by then had gathered enough momentum to overtake the pacesetter.
“She relaxed fine in the beginning behind the other horses,” said Castro. “I knew there was not too much speed, so I had to be right there. With no speed -- the turf is really soft, too -- I had to wait, wait.
"At the top of the stretch, the other horse pushed me in, but I pushed back a little bit. When she was clear and she could run, she took off.”
Trainer James Toner was over the moon with the way Winter Memories opened her 2012 account, as he heaped both jockey and filly with praise.
“She put in a really nice race,” Toner said. “She really did. You could see they were all just getting ready to box her in there, and (Castro) was patient. When they tried to push him back in, he came back out. Boy, he rode a beautiful race.”
Kentucky bred daughter of El Prado won the Grade 1 Garden City Stakes at Belmont Park last year before she capped off her season with a fourth place defeat to, Together in the Grade 1 QE II Challenge Cup.
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