Favored Eyeinthesky gets up late to win inaugural Galway
One day after capturing the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course with Got Stormy, conditioner Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber teamed up again to take Sunday's feature with Eyeinthesky winning the inaugural running of the $100,000 Galway for 3-year-old fillies.
Breaking sharply as the 5-2 post-time favorite with Joel Rosario aboard, Eyeinthesky contently stalked from sixth-position as 5-1 Woodbine-based shipper Sister Peacock led the field of 10 through swift fractions, with the opening quarter-mile going in 21.84 seconds and half in 44.11.
Tipping out wide at the top of the lane, Rosario put Eyeinthesky under a drive as the filly accelerated in deep stretch, with a game Abyssinian also closing strong along the rail. Fully extended in the final yards, the pair passed Sister Peacock, with Eyeinthesky securing the victory by a head over Abyssinian.
Eyeinthesky completed the 5 ½ furlong distance in 1:01.39 on a firm Mellon turf course.
"I was saving a little ground around the turn to give her a chance to go ahead and go on," said Rosario. "For a second, I thought she wasn't going to get there, but she kept coming and coming and got the final jump. Last time when I rode her, I went wide a little bit on the turn and this time, I just saved a little ground. We got there just in time."
The Sky Mesa filly, bred by Rusty Kindratiw in Florida, boosted her career bankroll to $242,536 in earning her second stakes victory in New York this year after winning the Mizdirection on April 14 at Aqueduct. Eyeinthesky returned $7.50 for a $2 win wager.
Casse said Eyeinthesky has the potential to raise her game to another level if she can leave the gate consistently as she matures.
"Sometimes, she does [break well], sometimes she doesn't," said Casse. "She's a bit of a nervous filly. We did change the way we took her to the gate to try and calm her down a little bit. I said to Joel, 'Don't be surprised if she breaks like a shot.' It was a good race. A good ride. I wasn't sure she was going to get there until the last jump and even then I wasn't sure.