A Little Bit Me Upsets Morticia in Unbridled Sydney
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Photo: Coady Photography
A Little Bit Me scores her first stakes win in the Unbridled Sydney at Churchill Downs
At odds of 24-1, A Little Bit Me upset the $125,000 Unbridled Sydney Stakes, taking the May 2 turf sprint at Churchill Downs by a neck over favored Morticia.
The victory in the 3-year-old and older filly and mare event was the first stakes win for A Little Bit Me.
Racing over firm turf at 5 1/2 furlongs, second-choice Surrender Now set an early, pressured pace with Excessivespending staying close. Morticia ran in third and A Little Bit Me was farther back in fifth early, then fourth. The leader clicked off fractions of :22.90 and :46.33 for a half-mile before Morticia took over on the turn for home.
In the clear at the top of the stretch, Morticia had a one-length lead in mid-stretch, but was caught late by John Velazquez and A Little Bit Me, who completed the distance in a final time of 1:04.57.
A 5-year-old, Kentucky-bred daughter of The Factor , A Little Bit Me is trained by Richard Baltas for Christopher Johnson, who claimed the mare at the end of 2018. She has raced primarily at Del Mar and Santa Anita Park since making her North American debut in November 2017. Prior to that, she raced in Ireland.
"All credit to my owner for the claim," Baltas said. "He picked her out. She's a nice horse. When she ran the other day at Keeneland (in the April 13 Giant's Causeway Stakes), she got away bad and the rider didn't push on her. He (Tyler Gaffalione) wrapped up and protected her. He worked her for me and liked the work. He thought she'd do well here and he was right."
A Little Bit Me has a record of 5-3-6 from 25 starts and earnings of $235,449.
Excessivespending finished third, 1 1/2 lengths behind runner-up Morticia.
Earlier on the Thurby card, Marc Detampel's Siem Riep led all the way to win the Opening Verse for 3-year-olds and up by 1 1/2 lengths over Hembree.
Siem Riep and James Graham after winning Opening Verse
Trained by Ben Colebrook and ridden by James Graham, Siem Riep covered the mile on firm turf in 1:35.07.
Siem Riep, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Tapit out of the War Chant mare Amansara, took the lead out of the gate and led the field of 10 through fractions of :23.93, :47.40 and 1:11.18 while maintaining a daylight advantage.
In the stretch, no one threatened the winner who produced the highest win payoff ($72) in the race's history.
The victory improved Siem Riep's earnings to $317,410 with a record of 6-4-2 from 20 starts.
Ballagh Rocks finished a nose behind Hembree to get third under Irad Ortiz Jr.