C C's Pal Remains Sharp in Ladies Handicap
C C’s Pal started off the New Year the same way she ended her 2011 campaign – in the winner’s circle at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Taking over from the pacesetters in midstretch, the 5-year-old mare rolled to a commanding 2 ¾-length victory in the 141st edition of the $75,000 Ladies Handicap, her second straight stakes victory at the Big A. Ridden by Junior Alvarado, C C’s Pal settled in third as 6-5 favorite Katy Now and Bahama Bound raced through fractions of 24.95, 49.74 and 1:13.86, then charged up on the outside to take the lead approaching the eighth pole, hitting the wire in 1:52.85 for the 1 1/8 miles.
“She tries hard,” said Alvarado, who was aboard when C C’s Pal won the six-furlong Garland of Roses on December 3. “When I rode her six furlongs, she was running in the end. I rode her long right now, and she was running in the end, too. [Distance] doesn’t matter, she’s just a big-heart filly.”
C C’s Pal has now won three of her four starts since joining trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr.’s barn, two of them sprinting. She also placed third in the Grade 2 Go for Wand, a one-turn mile, on November 25.
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure she could get a mile and an eighth, but if you’re ever going to get a mile and eighth it’s going to be here on this inner track,” said winning owner Eric Fein of C C’s Pal, who had also been under consideration for the six-furlong Interborough on the New Year’s Day card. “I left it [which race] up to Rick. We actually would have run in both if we could have. That’s how good she is doing.”
Sent off as the 7-5 second choice, C C’s Pal returned $4.80 for a $2 win bet and extended her career record to 7-5-5 from 25 starts. She has earned $451,086.
Bahama Bound finished a neck in front of Katy Now for second, with One Last Dance finishing fourth and Fools in Love fifth. Karmageddon was scratched.