Texting Breaks Through in La Prevoyante

There have been a few times in Texting's past races where Chad Brown left feeling he had saddled the best horse, he just didn't have the result to go with it.

When the now two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer saw the fractions going up and the pack sharply moving in front of his charge during the $200,000 La Prevoyante Handicap (G3T) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 27, he was confident the daughter of Candy Ride  wasn't going to be denied the spoils this time around.

Sarah Sharp Farish's homebred Texting put an end to her five-race losing skid by picking up her first career graded stakes victory when she overtook pacesetter Daring Duchess in late stretch to earn a three-quarter length win in the 1 1/2-mile La Prevoyante.

The 5-year-old dark bay mare didn't make her career debut until 2016 had only found the winner's circle twice previously in her 11 prior starts. In her final start of last season, she ended up at the mercy of a terrible trip that saw her tracking last through tepid fractions en route to a fifth-place run in the Via Borghese Stakes at Gulfstream Dec. 30.

Her seasonal bow provided a far more ideal set up. With Javier Castellano guiding the way, Texting rated fourth, then fifth, through opening fractions of :23.68 and :48.24 as Daring Dutchess led the procession past the stands for the first time and down the backstretch. While 4-5 favorite Apple Betty came up empty as they reached the far turn for the second time, Texting moved up three-wide to put in her bid, finally wearing down the game Daring Duchess a few strides before the wire.

"She's been a work in progress," Brown said of Texting. "If you look at her, she is still quite lightly raced and ... it's just taken a while to get her here. Today she got a good pace to work with. Javier really got along with her well, it was a good patient race. It was her day, everything came together.

"Not to make too many excuses, but you go back and there have been a couple days where I've exited the race thinking man, she was the best. With traffic here and there....she's been caught in some slow paces that have gotten her bottled up. Today I was very pleased with what I saw down the backside. If she was good enough and she was there for him, I thought she'd have a chance."

Texting covered the distance in 2:27.88 over a course rated firm. Daring Duchess held for second with Taralena third. Summersalt, Beauly, Apple Betty, and Miss Nancy completed the order of finish.

Bred in Kentucky, Texting is out of the Kingmambo mare Mumbo Jumbo and improved her record to three wins from 12 starts with $273,362 in earnings.

The $200,000 W. L. McKnight Handicap (G3T) saw Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Oscar Nominated unleash a three-wide strike around the final turn and turn back a pack of challengers in the lane to earn his third career graded stakes triumph in his seasonal bow.

Since being claimed by the Ramseys for $75,000 in 2015, Oscar Nominated has notched five wins—all in stakes company—consistently holding his own against some of the best in the turf marathon ranks. The Kitten's Joy  ridgling captured the Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs in September and was second to fellow McKnight entrant Bullards Alley in the Pattison Canadian International Stakes (G1T) before ending his season with an eighth-place run in the Red Smith Handicap (G3T) in November.

The bit of freshening he received after that outing served Oscar Nominated well in his 5-year-old debut. With freshly-minted Eclipse Award winner Jose Ortiz up, the full brother to multiple grade 1 winner Oscar Performance rated in fourth as Infinite Wisdom controlled the pace, throwing up fractions of :24.66, :50.35. Infinite Wisdom was still holding on to his advantage approaching the far turn for the final time but was overtaken by the Mike Maker-trained Oscar Nominated on his way to a half-length win over Nessy.

"He's had had a lot of bad luck, getting second or third, but today Jose gave him the perfect ride and he was training well so we thought we had a big shot with him," Ken Ramsey said. "These Kitten Joys like to run long, and this was a mile and a half. I think the distance with him is key and just being patient with him. And Jose fits him perfectly - he fits a lot of horses perfectly."

Sent off at 7-2 odds, Oscar Nominated covered the 12 furlongs in 2:30.08. Bullards Alley was third with Gold Shield and Markitoff completing the top five in the field of nine.

Bred in Kentucky by Mrs. Jerry Amerman, Oscar Nominated improved his record to six wins from 24 starts with $1,416,331 in earnings.