Temple City Terror Took Awhile to Find Winner's Circle

When the New York Racing Association runs the $600,000 Flower Bowl Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course Sept. 3, the horse to beat in the race for fillies and mares aged 4 and up, most everyone agrees, will be the Bill Mott-trained War Like Goddess .

Trainer Brendan Walsh doesn't know if he can beat the 2-5 morning-line favorite, but he thinks he will be competitive with the six other horses in the field. Walsh will saddle 6-year-old mare Temple City Terror  and she has come a long way since she first came to the barn.

Owned by Pocket Aces Racing, the daughter of Temple City   took a long time before she broke into the win column.

Temple City Terror began her career on Jan. 5, 2019, with her first appearance in a maiden race. She finished fourth. The trend would continue.

It wasn't until her 10th start, on Nov. 16 of that year, that she finally found the winner's circle, breaking her maiden on the grass at Churchill Downs.

"Long time to break her maiden," Walsh said. "But she has always been a barn favorite. She never has had a bad day, just a pleasure to be around. It's always nice to have a mare like that."

Temple City Terror did not become a winning machine after finally getting that maiden score. 

In the 16 races since that first win, she has won four other times. Two of those races came in the same race, the Keertana Overnight Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Churchill this year and last.

She has chased War Like Goddess, finishing second behind her in the 1 1/2-mile Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) at the Spa on Aug. 6; last year in the same race, she was third behind the Flower Bowl's big favorite.

"She has improved with age," Walsh said. "She is a hard-trying mare and you can't beat that. She shows up and gives it her all every time."