Flashback: Blind Luck was something to see in the Starlet

The horses thundered down the Hollywood Park backstretch, heading into the far turn, with a steady pace unfolding on the front end of the compact field. At the back of the pack, jockey Rafael Bejarano waited patiently aboard the 2-year-old filly Blind Luck.

What else could he do? With less than half a mile remaining in the 2009 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1). Bejarano and Blind Luck were buried behind horses along the rail, waiting for an opening that wasn’t in any hurry to appear.

Blind Luck wasn’t supposed to win the Starlet. Although she’d run well when third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies — beaten less than a length — bettors were embracing the Juvenile Fillies runner-up Beautician, sending her off as the narrow favorite in the Starlet. Blind Luck was a contender, no doubt, but certainly not a standout.

Heading into the far turn, it appeared the bettors had played their cards right. Whereas Blind Luck was trapped in traffic, the similarly late-running Beautician was positioned on the outside in fifth place, just three lengths off the pace and with a clear path to victory in front of her.

But just when the outcome appeared evident, the complexion of the race changed dramatically. Beautician suddenly came under urging from jockey Garrett Gomez. The favorite was empty, with nothing left to offer, and as she dropped back through the field, a flash of daylight appeared in front of Blind Luck.

Bejarano seized the moment. He aimed his filly for the opening, urging Blind Luck to accelerate. Had Blind Luck hesitated — even for a moment — the gap might have been closed by the outside-rallying It Tiz, forcing her to take up and wait in traffic once again.

But Blind Luck didn’t hesitate. Responding immediately to Bejarano’s cues, she lengthened her stride, raced through the opening, and swung outside to challenge the leaders with a four-wide bid at the top of the stretch.

In a matter of strides, Blind Luck left her overmatched pursuers reeling in her wake. Even track announcer Vic Stauffer was stunned by Blind Luck’s astonishing acceleration. “Here comes Blind Luck,” he declared, “and Blind Luck makes a bold move to the front, and she rolls away, and Blind Luck has suddenly put five in front, oh my goodness, look at this!”

With every stride, Blind Luck extended her advantage. Clear by a length at the eighth pole, her lead quickly grew to two lengths, then three, then five, and finally seven length as she flashed under the finish line. Bejarano never even went to his whip, focusing instead on steering the flying Ferrari beneath him.

“I think she’s going to be a real good filly,” Bejarano remarked in the Louisville, Ky., The Courier-Journal of Dec. 21, 2009. “I had so much horse I wanted to wait as long as I could. When I asked her a little, she showed me a big turn of foot.”

Bejarano’s high opinion of Blind Luck proved prophetic. By the time she retired in 2011, Blind Luck had won five Grade 1 races and 10 graded stakes races overall, including the 2010 Kentucky Oaks. Time and time again she used her powerful turn of foot to spark improbable rallies from far behind to win many of racing’s greatest prizes.

But never was Blind Luck more visually spectacular than in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes. As her trainer Jerry Hollendorfer marveled The Courier-Journal, “I’ve never seen her like that. She really got a hold of the track today.”

Now there’s an understatement.

J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.