Lightly-Raced Promiseher America Lands Gazelle at 26-1
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher
Promiseher America defeats Gambling Girl in the Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Despite facing some more experienced rivals, Promiseher America ran back to a scintillating maiden performance Feb. 19 with a steely score in the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes (G3) April 8 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The win marked the first graded stakes victory for young New York-based trainer Ray Handal.
"Finally, I can get that monkey off my back!" Handal said after the race. "I hope next time is not too far between drinks.”
“(Promiseher America) was super impressive last time and I said, ‘Let’s go the nine furlongs. We can always go back to (a first-level allowance) if we need to.’ But I like the idea of two turns. She’s just built like a two-turn kind of horse. She obviously had to step up. It was one of those races where whoever took the biggest step forward would win this race today and she was in the realm of them and she hung on."
Making just her fourth start in the 1 1/8 mile Gazelle, Promiseher America broke sharply and raced just behind the frontrunning Capella behind a sluggish early pace of :24.34 and :49.60. Kept under a snug hold from rider Dylan Davis, Promiseher America launched her attack turning for home, moving in unison with favored Occult before taking over at the top of the lane.
Gambling Girl , last of the six horses early, valiantly attempted to circle the field but was clearly compromised by the languid fractions. She closed to within a half-length of the victorious Promiseher America, who struck the wire in a final time of 1:51.41 in her stakes debut under Jorge Vargas Jr.
Shidabuti, the other Chad Brown trainee with Occult, secured third.
The longest shot on the board at more than 26-1 odds, Promiseher America returned $55 for a $2 win wager.
The winner is owned by Hoffman Thoroughbreds and Tom McCrocklin, who consigned the daughter of American Pharoah as a juvenile at the 2022 Ocala Breeders' Sale Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds-in-Training. She was a $75,000 purchase there by John Fox.
Not an original nominee to the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Promiseher America can pick up 100 points towards a starting slot in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs if she is made a late nomination to the race by her connections.
“If we go the Kentucky (Oaks) route, we’ll stay here as long as we can and ship in the week of," Handal said.
This story will be updated with a recap of the Bay Shore.