Longshot Ekati's Phaeton Wires Davona Dale
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Phaedrus Flights' Ekati's Phaeton, a 25-1 shot, took a good field of 3-year-old fillies wire to wire to win the Davona Dale Stakes (gr. II) Feb. 21 at Gulfstream Park .
The daughter of Tale of Ekati covered the one-turn mile in 1:37.66. Birdatthewire was a neck back in second, edging Eskenformoney by a neck. Favored Puca finished fourth.
The winner, with Luis Saez aboard, broke from post 10 in the Davona Dale and quickly went to the front, getting the opening quarter in :23.18 and half in :45.60 while at ease on the front end. She was tracked by Eskenformoney and Jacaranda. After six furlongs in 1:10.65, Ekati's Phaeton was challenged by Birdatthewire and Eskenformoney throughout the stretch run, but she prevailed while drifting off the rail.
Trained by William Kaplan, Ekati's Phaeton paid $55.60, $21.80, and $12.20. Birdatthewire paid $6.20 and $4.20 and Eskenformoney returned $4. The $2 exacta paid $309.20.
Puca was 5 3/4 lengths back of the blanket finish in fourth and was followed by Lassofthemohicans, Silverpocketsfull, Distina, Genre, Cavorting, Money'soncharlotte, Jacaranda, Enchantress, and Skipalute.
Gelfenstein Farm's Danessa Deluxe (30-1 on the morning line) was scratched.
"This filly has the most speed of any filly I've ever trained and I trained Musical Romance to win the Breeders' Cup," Kaplan said. "In all of her races prior to this one, I've been trying to teach her to stay off it a little bit and keep herself in reserve. We didn't do too good last time doing it that way (fourth in Forward Gal), but (Saez) said she wants to be up front, so I told him to just let her go. We let her go today and he proved he was right.
"She's carried her speed a mile and I don't see why she can't carry it further," he continued. "She jumped a shadow or something after an eighth of a mile, but once she got the lead, she was holding them off on the turn (and) I thought she had something left. He never really asked her until they turned for home. We'll have to think about (what's next). Now the Kentucky Oaks is in the process, but we still have to go two turns with her. That shouldn't be a problem."
Ekati's Phaeton won the six-furlong Old Hat Stakes (gr. III) Jan. 3 at Gulfstream, but was fourth behind Birdatthewire and fellow Davona Dale runner Lassofthemohicans in the seven-furlong Forward Gal Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 24. She now has a 4-1-0 slate from seven starts, with all four wins coming at Gulfstream.
The winner is out of Seventh Veil, by Capote, and was bred in Kentucky by Haymarket Farm and Machmer Hall. As part of the consignment of Select Sales, agent, Ekati's Phaeton RNA'd at $18,000 at the 2012 Keeneland November sale. She sold to Phaedrus Flights for $50,000 at the 2013 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s August yearling sale and RNA'd at $150,000 at the OBS March 2-year-old sale in 2014 while selling for Phaedrus Flights, Gayle Woods, agent.
"We bought her as a yearling and she went to the 2-year-old sale at OBS. She breezed well, but bucked shins, so we decided to go to the races with her," said John Dowd, racing manager for Phaedrus Flights. "She's always been very athletic and fast. It was just a question of how she could carry her speed. We'll take things one day at a time. The (Gulfstream Park) Oaks is a possibility, or we could cut back (in distance)."
Seventh Veil won once in her racing career. Ekati's Phaeton is her fourth foal. A half sister to multiple Midwest stakes winner Yucatan, she died in 2013.
Ekati's Phaeton is from Tale of Ekati's first crop. Standing at Darby Dan Farm, Tale of Ekati finished 2014 17th on the first-crop sire list. Prior to the Davona Dale, the grade I-winning son of Tale of the Cat was ranked 12th on this year's second-crop list.