City to City by a nose in Mabee
Stretch-running City to City provided jockey Corey Nakatani with his
third triumph of the afternoon as she rallied in the stretch to nose out
hard-luck All Star Heart in the final stride in the featured Grade II
$250,000 John C. Mabee Stakes for older fillies and mares Sunday.
City to City, winner of the 2011 Palomar Handicap at Del Mar,
charged from fifth in the early running to get up at the wire in the
mile and one-eighth contest over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
All Star Heart, who appeared to have the race won after taking the
lead in deep stretch under Brice Blanc, was 1 ½ lengths ahead of Go
Forth North, who set the pace into the stretch. Cambina was fourth,
followed by Imperialistic Diva and 3-2 favored Nereid who was sixth and
last.
City to City, owned by the partnership of William DeBurgh, Mark
DeDomenico and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, narrowly missed the stakes
record as she ran the distance in 1:46.50. The mark of 1:46.34 was set
by Precious Kitten in the ’07 Mabee.
The winner, a five-year-old mare by City Zip bred in Kentucky, earned
$150,000 for the victory, her eighth in 29 starts. Her bankroll now is
$679,726. To her backers in a crowd of 15,844, she paid $15, $6.40 and
$4.60.
All Star Heart, co-second choice at 5-2, paid $4.80 and $4.40, while Go Forth North returned $5.20 to show.
Nakatani’s other winners Sunday were All Squared Away at $11.40 in the third and Shaun Washington at $8 in the seventh, the only favorite to win on the nine-race program.