Kiss to Remember, Warm Breeze Win at FG
Maggi Moss’s Kiss to Remember prompted the pace, gained the advantage in upper stretch and drew off late for a 4 ¼-length score in Saturday’s first renewal of the $60,000 Battle of New Orleans at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Trained by 10-time Fair Grounds trainer champion Tom Amoss and ridden by Fair Grounds’ three-time defending jockey champion Rosie Napravnik who was riding her fourth winner of the afternoon,Kiss to Remember returned mutuels of $5.20, $3.20 and $2.40, toured the about 5 ½ furlongs over a Stall-Wilson turf course rated good in 1:05.80 and increased her career earnings to $59,110 with her second victory in four career starts.
“She’a grown up a little bit since we got her,” said Amoss, who claimed her for $50,000 on behalf of owner Moss. “It’s always nice to see a horse develop the way she has. She’s by Big Brown and he seems to sire a lot of good grass runners.”
Right Time Racing and Irons Stables’ Mizzen Moon, never far back, continued with good courage in the lane to gain the place, paying $7.40 and $4.60 while finishing three-quarters of a length in front of Castleton Lyons Toni’s Hollyday, who returned $2.80.
Thomas Galvin’s Adrianne G made the pace with early splits of :22.32 and :47.40 but could not sustain the bid.
In the 29th running of the $60,000 Happy Ticket Stakes, Ten Broeck Farm’s Warm Breeze made the pace through early fractions of 22.25 and 45.92 and held on for a nose victory over Brereton Jones’s Same Cross while accomplishing the six-furlong distance in 1:10.33.
Ridden by Leandro Goncalves and conditioned by Grant Forster, the daughter of Street Sense paid $9.20, $4.60 and $3.40 and increased her career earnings to $94,396 with her third win in nine lifetime starts.
“She broke really sharp and we had fast fractions but she was doing it easy and relaxed,” said Goncalves.
Same Cross closed late to easily gain the place and returned $2.80 and $2.40 while finishing 9 ¼-lengths to the good of Adele Dilschneider’s Ire, who paid $2.60.