Constellation surges late in the Grade 1 La Brea

Despite a strong record that included three easy stakes wins in her last four starts, the LNJ Foxwoods owned Constellation was somewhat ignored by bettors today in the the Grade 1 La Brea. That turned out to be a mistake, as the daughter of Bellamy Road tenaciously stalked the early leader, Finley’sluckycharm, before finally surging by in the last twenty yards and on to victory.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for just the last two starts, Constellation returned from a sizable layoff to win her prep for this one by traveling to Turfway Park and dominating her overmatched foes by 5 1/2-lengths in the Phoenix Stakes. The sharp return win in November was enough to believe that she was ready for her second try in Grade 1 racing.

Breaking smoothly from the middle of the starting gate under, Flavien Prat, Constellation was forwardly placed throughout, as Finley’sluckycharm surged to the early lead, just to her inside. While that one carved out strong fractions of :22.24 and :44.58 down the Santa Anita backstretch, Constellation moved forward in between horses and became the closest to the leader as the field of eight hit the far turn.

With no rally coming from the slight 9-5 favorite, Lightstream, or anyone else, for that matter, it became only a question of the top two. For much of the stretch, it looked like Finley’sluckycharm would hold off the advances of Constellation, but the former East Coast-based filly would not give up. As the leader began to tire, she drove to the wire and powered past for a half-length victory.

Prat, who only picked up the mount earlier in the day, talked about the winner being geared up early. “She is a really fine filly,” said Prat. “She broke well, but I couldn’t take a hold of her. She just wouldn’t relax. When we got to the 3/8ths pole, she finally relaxed and she did everything to get there for the win. I was fortunate to get the call on her today. David (Flores couldn’t get here due to travel problems).”

Final time for the seven furlongs over the fast main track at Santa Anita was 1:21.83. Enola Gray had a wide trip, and was best of the rest to finish third.

As the third longest shot on the toteboard, Constellation rewarded her backers with $27.00, $9.60, and $6.00 across the board. The exacta over the 9-5 second favorite returned $90.20, while the 4-3-7 trifecta completed by Enola Gray paid $446.40.

The winning trainer talked about Prat’s good day after the race. “That race kind of unfolded the way we thought it would,” remarked Hollendorfer. “I think Flavien was a little lucky to get through between horses, and that was the key to winning the race. We wanted to ride David Flores back because he made a trip out to Turf Paradise to ride this filly. He couldn’t get a plane out here – it got delayed – so Prat was open and he was the logical guy to go to since he’s been the leading rider at several meets. We need him to ride for us, so I’m glad we got a win with him in a Grade I.”

Now a Grade 1 winner, Constellation raised her lifetime record to 8-5-1-1. Bred by WinStar Farm in Kentucky, and an $800,000 two-year-old in training sale purchase, she raised her career earnings to $479,464.