Kitten's Dumplings Back to Her Winning Ways in Little Miss Magic
Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Kitten’s Dumplings asserted her back class to overwhelm seven rivals in Saturday’s $75,000 Little Miss Magic Stakes at Gulfstream Park West.
The daughter of Kitten’s Joy, a multiple graded-stakes winner who captured the 2013 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1), notched her first victory in five starts this year since returning from a 14-month layoff.
Trained by Michael Maker, Kitten’s Dumplings was ridden by Rafael Hernandez in her seventh career victory and sixth stakes score. Rated in fifth around the first turn and along the backstretch, the 5-year-old mare split horses on the far turn and swung four-wide on the turn into the homestretch before overpowering her rivals with a powerful stretch run to score comfortably by two lengths.
“I had a good trip. I just tried to get her relax behind the heels of [Lori's Store]; that way she didn't go too early,” Hernandez said. “You see her other races and it looks like she comes from way back but now she broke on top out of the gate. I tried to take her back and she just fought with me so I let her set there.”
Todd Pletcher-trained Zloty closed under Edgard Zayas to finish second, two lengths ahead of Lori’s Store, a two-time stakes winner during Gulfstream Park’s summer meet, and jockey Harry Hernandez.
Kitten’s Dumpling ran 1 1/8-miles on turf in 1:50.02 while boosting her career bankroll to $760,815 with the $45,105 winner’s share of the purse.
“She's come back well. She's a really nice filly and she liked the turf today. It turned out good. That's what we were hoping to see, and she went out and did it. It was a good race,” said Maker’s assistant, Mattie Martin. “It's very rewarding (to get her back in the winner's circle), most definitely. She's a nice filly, and she earned it. Rafael knows what he's doing. We had faith in him, and he went out and did it."
Source - Gulfstream