Lucky Move Upsets Obeah at 42-1 Odds with Wide Rally
Image:
Description:
Photo: Hoofprints, Inc.
Lucky Move wins the Obeah Stakes on Delaware Park's opening day
Lucky Move ran to her name in the opening-day $100,000 Obeah Stakes June 17 at Delaware Park, rallying past the field leaving the second turn for a 42-1 surprise victory over Vault.
Out of action since third in a Feb. 28 allowance-level race at Aqueduct Racetrack, Lucky Move performed like a rejuvenated mare after the time off. The 6-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky settled off the pace early, as is her custom, running seventh as Bronx Beauty went to the lead with fractions of :23.30 and :47.22 in the 1 1/16-mile race.
Over the second half of the Obeah, Lucky Move moved into a higher gear. She quickly advanced into third as Fashion Faux Pas went to the lead with six furlongs in 1:11.35 and then quickly passed the two in front of her.
Down the stretch, only Vault was able to somewhat keep pace with the winner and finished 1 1/4 lengths back. Favored Lady Apple ran third, three lengths behind the runner-up.
Ujjayi, Afleet Destiny, Motion Emotion, and Trace of Grace were scratched, reducing the field to eight.
The winner, claimed by Marshall Gramm and Clay Sanders' Ten Strike Racing for $30,000 at Churchill Downs in April 2019, recorded her first stakes victory in the Obeah, which was positioned by the track as a prep for the July 11 Delaware Handicap (G2). She had been stakes-placed three times previously, including in the Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct this year.
The Juan Carlos Guerrero trainee finished in 1:42.28 on a fast track under Roberto Rosado and returned $87.60 to her mutuel backers.
Bred in New York by Maltese Cross Stables and Stonegate Stables, Lucky Move is out of the Quiet American mare Quiet Mover. She is her dam's first stakes winner and one of two winners from three foals to race.