Hard Knocking Zia Prevails for Maiden Score

Making her seventh career start in a race that included several fashionably bred fillies running for the first time, Zia caught 50-1 long shot Chiding at the wire and survived an inquiry and objection for her maiden victory Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

Ridden by Paco Lopez, Zia ($16.20) and Fine Instincts appeared to bump repeatedly in mid-stretch before Zia got clear and reeled in Chiding to win by a neck. Fine Instincts, with Javier Castellano up, was another 1 ¼ lengths back in third.

“She’s a gutsy filly. She’s trained like that since she’s been a baby,” winning trainer Nick Gonzalez said. “That’s just race-riding. They’re both competitive riders and I don’t really think it affected the outcome of the race. Obviously, we’re happy she stayed up.”

Owned by Tucci Stables, Zia was making her second start in two weeks after running five times in Canada as a 2-year-old. Among her competition Sunday were Spirit, a half-sister to dual Grade 1-winner Dream Rush; Regia Marina, whose siblings include graded stakes winners Midshipman and Fast Cookie; Pin Up, out of the multiple Grade 1-winning mare Cara Rafaela; and 9-5 pacesetting favorite Fast Moon, a daughter of prolific sire Malibu Moon.

“This could have been a star-studded field with the breeding of these young fillies,” Gonzalez said, “but we did have six races and it proved to be an incredible asset today.”

Zia ran 6 ½ furlongs in 1:18.66 on a fast main track. Following the top three, Fast Moon, Regia Marina, Pin Up, Sharpsburg, Casco Passage, Spirit, Queen’s Princess, Bridle Fashion, Cassidys Valentine and Delightful Melody completed the order of finish.

“I told Paco to just let her get her legs under her leaving there and see where you find yourself going down the backside,” Gonzalez said. “If some of those first-time starters are quick, let them go and figure it out from there.” 

Gutsy Debut Win for Ayaady
Shadwell Stable’s Ayaady came with a determined run down the stretch to capture her career debut by a head in Sunday’s sixth race.

Favored at 6-5 in a field of 12 maiden 3-year-old fillies, the gray daughter of Tapit ran 7 ½ furlongs in 1:30.34 to edge Starlight Racing’s Itsonlyactingdad. It was 2 ¼ lengths back to C’Est Bon in third.

“What can I say? This filly is a beautifully bred horse and she’s been training better every week,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “We put her in the race not expecting a win, but put her in thinking she would give a good account of herself. For her to win her debut when feeling we didn’t have hear all the way cranked looks good for the future.”

Ayaady ($4.60) was purchased for $1 million as a yearling in September 2013, and had been working steadily since November at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

“She was always a good-looking horse and always trained well, but she’s really taken steps forward,” Brown said. “She’ll definitely stretch out. We’ll talk with the team and see what they want to do, but we’ll stretch her out. She’s got a long career ahead of her, a long season ahead of her, so we’ll take it step by step.”

Brown also said that 3-year-old filly Consumer Credit exited her victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3) in good order. It was the fourth straight victory in the race for Brown, following Ready to Act (2014), Premier Steps (2013) and Dayatthespa (2012), recently named last year’s Champion Turf Female.

“All the fillies that have won that race all turned out to be really nice, and she’d fit in with all of them,” Brown said. “These are still young fillies at this stage when you’re talking about January of their 3-year-old year, so there’s still a lot of development to go, but as far as where all of those fillies were at this stage, they’re very close. She ranks right up there with them.”

Who’s Hot: Jockey Javier Castellano added to his Championship Meet-leading total with a pair of winners, Wildcat Gaze ($4.20) in the second race and Ayaady ($4.60) in the sixth. Joel Rosario also won twice, with Little Baltar ($5.80) in the fifth and Dancing House ($4.20) in the 10th.

Rainbow 6 Carryover: $44,649.16

Super Hi-5 Carryover: $26,713.62

Source: Gulfstream Communications