Street Story Flies to Winning Colors Win
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Whispering Oaks Farm’s Street Story easily went by favored Spring Included to take the $100,000 Winning Colors Stakes (gr. III) May 25 at Churchill Downs.
Sent off at 7-1, Street Story sat the perfect stalking trip under jockey Florent Geroux before taking command in the stretch, posting the 1 12-length score over Heykittykittykitty, who got up to be second over the weakening Spring Included.
“She always tries hard and today she ran very well,” said Darren Fleming, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.
Racing over sloppy sealed strip, Street Story ran the six furlongs in 1:10.39 and avenged a loss to Spring Included when they last met in the Carousel Stakes at
“She’s been training very well here at Churchill,” Fleming said. “She had some good works. She was annihilated (in the Carousel), she had no shot. The start cost her that race. When you bring her over here she tries hard every time. I didn’t think (the off track) hurt her, she had run on it before. She won on it at Oaklawn once before.”
Spring Included tracked the early pace of the 5-2 second-choice Southern Honey, who won the Winning Colors last year, before taking the lead after a half-mile was run in :45.38, but proved no match for Street Story, who easily went by to post her fifth win from 13 career starts while boosting her lifetime earnings to $339,430.
“We had a great trip on the outside,” Geroux said. “When I rode her at Fair Grounds she was stuck on the inside and she almost jumped the fence. She was really claustrophobic on the inside. I was pretty sure I could win this stakes. I had to keep her on the clear as much as possible and it went great. I had a good enough post to do so and I took advantage of it. I had the favorite next to me when I squeezed mine just before the quarter pole, I pretty much knew I had it.”
Saturday's win marked her second graded stakes win and fourth stakes win overall. Last June, Street Story prevailed in the Victory Ride Stakes (gr. III) at
Heykittykitty rallied from fourth to get second and was followed by Spring Included, Milam, Enchanting Lisa, You Bought Her, Pistolpackinpenny, Toni's Hollyday, Southern Honey and Boss Barney's Babe.
“She uncharacteristically kind of shut it down there at the end,” trainer Steve Hobby said of Spring Included, who had a two-race win streak snapped. “That’s not like her. She tried. She still was game, but she usually digs a little harder there at the end. I was a little disappointed in her last hundred yards.”
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