Twilight Gleaming Defeats Her Elders in Daisycutter
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Twilight Gleaming wins the Daisycutter Handicap at Del Mar
Back at the scene of her Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) victory, Stonestreet Stables' Twilight Gleaming flourished once again over the Del Mar lawn, prevailing over her elders in the July 29 $104,100 Daisycutter Handicap.
The slight second favorite in the field, Twilight Gleaming blasted to the front from her far outside post and in a matter of strides, the race unfolded as a classic battle with the old generation versus the youth when the hardy 5-year-old mare Leggs Galore rushed up to engage her younger rival.
The duo remained stride for stride in the five-furlong sprint around the oval, despite blazing, taxing early fractions of :21.90 and :44.91.
Under top California jockey J.J. Hernandez, Twilight Gleaming overtook the game but leg-weary Leggs Galore halfway down the lane and surged to the wire to hold off the late charge from 29-1 shot Xmas Surprise by a half-length. Leggs Galore completed the trifecta in third.
Twilight Gleaming, shipped out west from trainer Wesley Ward's Saratoga Race Course summer base, raced the five furlongs in a final of time :56.90 on a firm turf course.
The connections of Twilight Gleaming in the trophy presentation for the Daisycutter Handicap
A global traveler having captured a stakes in France and a group 2 race in England, Twilight Gleaming scored the second win of her sophomore season on Friday. She also landed the Mamzelle Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs in May after suffering a narrow loss against the boys in Keeneland's Palisades Stakes.
"It doesn't matter if it's Keeneland, Saratoga, Ascot, Deauville, she shows up every time," Ben McElroy said, the bloodstock agent who signed the ticket on the daughter of National Defense for $96,931 when she was a yearling at the 2020 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.
Video: Daisycutter H. (BT)