Killer Bird prevails by a neck in Barely Even Stakes

Taconic Racing Stable, Gary Marsh and trainer Chuck Simon’s Killer Bird swooped past Miss Hollywood with a last-ditch effort to prevail by a neck over the 1-2 favorite in Sunday’s $75,000 Barely Even Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Breaking from the far outside post in the field of seven fillies and mares, Killer Bird ran the one-turn mile in 1:36.84 while capturing her stakes debut at 19-1 odds under Matt Rispoli.

“I can’t say we had a guaranteed win, but I thought she’d run well. We were looking for some black type,” Simon said.

Run Hard Stable’s Miss Hollywood, a $1.35 million yearling purchase, had won her last two races with ease, breaking her maiden by more than 10 lengths April 20 before running away to victory by 9 ¾ lengths in an optional claiming allowance June 2. The Giuseppe Iadisernia-trained daughter of Malibu Moon and multiple graded-stakes winner Hollywood Story, broke a step slowly from her rail post position before quickly assuming the lead along the backstretch, pressed by Untrue past fractions of 24.09 seconds and 46.74 for a half mile. Miss Hollywood scooted away from her early challenger but was quickly engaged by Killer Bird on the turn.

Miss Hollywood appeared on her way to victory after she turned the corner into the homestretch and inched away to a lead in mid-stretch. However, Killer Bird was kept to the drive by Rispoli as the favorite started to shorten stride approaching the wire, opening the door for the upset in the final strides.

“I thought it was worth a shot. We drew well on the outside. It helped that [Untrue] pressed [Miss Hollywood] a bit. She softened her up a little bit, and Matt did the right thing in going after her and trying to win the race on the turn,” Simon said. “He made [Miss Hollywood] – she never got a breather. The [favorite] is kind of a lightly raced filly and our filly is more experienced.”

Killer Bird, who broke her maiden on turf April 3, captured an off-the-turf optional claiming allowance over a sloppy track before returning to turf for a pair of steady fourth-place finishes.

“She’s better on dirt than turf. Sometimes it’s difficult to get a race going long on dirt in lower conditions, so we’ve been running her on turf. She’s been running OK on turf – she broke her maiden on turf – but she’s really a better dirt horse,” Simon said.

The victory was Killer Bird’s third in 12 starts.

“She was always a horse we thought would get better as a 4-year-old and 5-year-old,” Simon said. “Her name is Killer Bird partly because it took her a long time to get her broken as a baby. She’d throw herself on the ground. She was a real problem child, but now she’s perfect.”

Miss Hollywood finished 3 ¾ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Lady Serena, who made a steady late run under jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

Betsy Ross Stakes Highlights Monday’s July 4th Program

Up-and-coming turf specialist Sharp Kitty will seek her third straight triumph in the $75,000 Betsy Ross Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Monday’s special Fourth of July Program.

Hardacre Farm’s daughter of Kitten’s Joy, the 3-1 favorite in a field of 12 sophomore fillies, won in going-away fashion in her last two starts, including the Christmas Past Stakes June 11.

The $340,000 purchase at the 2014 Fasig Tipton Saratoga Sale is trained by Hardacre’s Amy Tarrant.

First-race post time is 1:15 p.m. for the 10-race holiday card.

Source: Gulfstream Park