Dixie Serenade Hits High Note in Victory Ride Upset

Dixie Serenade turned in the upset performance of the day when she landed the $150,000 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) July 8 at Belmont Park. 

In just her first start in graded company, the 3-year-old daughter of Uptowncharlybrown  managed to best the likes of Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) runner Take Charge Paula and grade 1 winner Separationofpowers with a late surge no one—not even her trainer—saw coming. Her victory also gave her sire his first black-type winner.

"I was surprised that she won," said Eddie Coletti Jr. "I wasn't going to be surprised that she hit the board. I was surprised that she came up the rail and ran the way she did."

Sent off at odds of 47-1, Dixie Serenade made brief contact with favorite Mia Mischief out of the gate before righting herself. Hustled to the rail by jockey Mychel Sanchez, Mia Mischief took the lead followed closely by Classy Act, who pressed the pace a head behind. 

Heading into the turn, Mia Mischief and Classy Act continued their duel as Sower began to move up on the outside to challenge. Running last in the eight-horse field at the top of the stretch, Dixie Serenade began to gain ground on the frontrunners with a late drive, shooting past her rivals in the final yards to win by a neck.  

"She always has a good, hard, firm kick in the stretch," Sanchez said. "The plan was to let the speed go in the beginning and let her settle and hope to get a good trip with an ideal pace, which we did. And when I asked her, she just took off. She's something. 

"I knew I had some distance on the horses up front, and at the clip they were moving at, I knew I just had to wait for the long stretch. As soon as they opened up, I asked her, and she just took off. The way she runs, you have to drop in and save some ground, and I was along the rail the whole time. Thankfully, everything opened up today."

The final time for the 6 1/2-furlong test was 1:16.57. Classy Act held for second, with Sower in third. Separationofpowers, who stumbled severely coming out of the gate, recovered to get up for fourth. Mia Mischief, Spectator, Take Charge Paula, and Norma's Charm completed the order of finish. 

The winner returned $97.50, $23.40, and $10.20. 

Bred in Pennsylvania by Fantasy Lane Stable, Dixie Serenade is out of the unraced Malibu Moon  mare Moonlight Serenade. Owned by Uptowncharlybrown Stud, Dixie Serenade improved her record to 4-4-1 in 11 starts with earnings of $266,750.